UC-NRLF 


mi 


' 


Received 


VITAL     CHRISTIANITY. 


VITAL  CHRISTIANITY: 


ESSAYS  AND  DISCOURSES 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  MAN  AND  THE  RELIGION  OF  GOD. 


ALEXANDER   VINET,  D.  D. 
\v 


PROFESSOR    OF   THEOLOGY  IN   LAUSANNE,  SWITZERLAND. 


TRANSLATED,  WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION, 
BY 

ROBERT  TURNBULL, 

PASTOR    OP    THE    HARVARD    STREET    CHURCH,    BOSTON. 


BOSTON: 
GOULD,    KENDALL    AND    LINCOLN, 

59     WASHINGTON     STREET. 

1845. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843, 

BY  GOULD,  KENDALL  &  LINCOLN, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


W.  S.  DAMRELL,  PRINTER, 
NO.    11   CORNHILL,  BOSTON. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

INTRODUCTION,  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR  5 

I.  RELIGIONS  OF  MAN  AND  THE  RELIGION  OF  GOD  *      35 

II.  THE  MYSTERIES  OF  CHRISTIANITY      -        -  -   48 

III.  THE  GOSPEL  COMPREHENDED  BY  THE  HEART  -  60 

IV.  FOLLY  OF  THE  TRUTH         -        -        -        -  -72 
V.  THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  90 

VI.  NATURAL  FAITH 106 

VII.  CHRISTIAN  FAITH 118 

VIII.  ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS       -        -        -  129 

IX.  GRACE  AND  LAW 141 

X.  MAN    DEPRIVED   OF   ALL   GLORY    BEFORE   GoD  155 

XI.  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED       -        *•_  ;A>  -        -  166 

XII.  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  CHRISTIAN  MORALITY  -  187 

XIII.  NECESSITY  OF  BECOMING  CHILDREN         -        -  201 

XIV.  CLAIMS  OF  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH  ADJUSTED  213 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


XV.  THE  PURSUIT  OF  HUMAN  GLORY 

XVI.  THE  POWER  OF  THE  FEEBLE  - 

XVII.  THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL 

XVIII.  THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL 

XIX.  THE  WORK  OF  GOD    - 

XX.  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED 

XXI.  CHRISTIAN  JOY  - 

XXII.  PEACE  IN  HEAVEN  - 


PAGE. 

229 
244 
256 
266 
278 
296 
327 
346 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  attention  of  the  translator  was  first  called  to  the  writings 
of  Vinet  by  Dr.  Merle  D'Aubigne,  the  well  known  author  of  the 
"  History  of  the  Reformation."  Having,  in  the  course  of  con- 
versation, asked  him  concerning  the  published  discourses  of  the 
most  distinguished  preachers  in  France  and  Switzerland,  he 
particularly  recommended  those  of  Vinet,  speaking  of  him  as  the 
Chalmers  of  Switzerland.  He  referred  also  to  the  work  which 
he  had  recently  published  on  the  "Profession  of  Religious 
Convictions,  and  the  Union  of  Church  and  State,"  as  having 
produced  a  very  great  sensation  in  that  part  of  the  world.  He 
admitted  that  Vinet  differed  from  Chalmers  in  some  respects,  but 
intimated  that  he  possessed  a  more  profoundly  philosophical 
spirit.  Every  one  familiar  with  the  writings  of  both  men,  will 
readily  allow  that  they  resemble  each  other  in  breadth  and  energy 
of  mind,  originality  of  conception,  and  splendor  of  diction. 
Chalmers,  we  think,  has  more  of  energy  and  passion,  but  less  of 
philosophical  acumen  and  delicacy  of  perception  ;  more  of  oratori- 
cal force  and  affluence  of  imagery,  but  less  of  real  beauty, 
perspicacity,  and  power  of  argument.  His  discourses  resemble 
mountain  torrents,  dashing  in  strength  and  beauty,  amid  rocks 
and  woods,  carrying  everything  before  them,  and  gathering  force 
as  they  leap  and  foam  from  point  to  point,  in  their  progress  to 
the  sea.  Vinet's,  on  the  other  hand,  are  like  deep  and  beautiful 
rivers,  passing  with  calm  but  irresistible  majesty,  through  rich 
and  varied  scenery ;  now  gliding  around  the  base  of  some  lofty 
mountain,  then  sweeping  through  meadows  and  cornfields,  anon 
1 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

reflecting  in  their  placid  bosom  some  old  castle,  or  vine-covered 
hill,  taking  villages  and  cities  in  their  course,  and  bearing  the 
commerce  and  population  of  the  neighboring  countries  on  their 
deepening  and  expanding  tide.  The  diction  of  Chalmers  is 
strikingly  energetic,  but  somewhat  rugged  and  involved,  occa- 
sionally, too,  rather  unfinished  and  clumsy.  Vinet's  is  pure  and 
classical,  pellucid  as  one  of  his  own  mountain  lakes,  and  yet 
remarkably  energetic  and  free. 

Another  thing  in  which  they  differ  has  reference  to  the  mode 
in  which  they  develop  a  subject.  Chalmers  grasps  one  or  two 
great  conceptions,  and  expands  them  into  a  thousand  beautiful 
and  striking  forms.  His  great  power  lies  in  making  luminous 
and  impressive  the  single  point  upon  which  he  would  fix  his 
reader's  attention,  running  it,  like  a  thread  of  gold,  through  the 
web  of  his  varied  and  exhaustless  imagery.  Vinet  penetrates 
into  the  heart  of  his  subject,  analyzes  it  with  care,  lays  it  open  to 
inspection,  advances  from  one  point  to  another,  adds  thought  to 
thought,  illustration  to  illustration,  till  it  becomes  clear  and 
familiar  to  the  mind  of  the  reader.  llis  intellect  is  distinguished 
as  much  by  its  logical  acumen  as  its  powers  of  illustration  and 
ornament.  He  seldom  repeats  his  thoughts  in  the  same  discourse, 
and  rarely  fails  in  clearness  of  conception  and  arrangement. 
Chalmers  delights  and  persuades  by  the  grandeur  of  his  ideas, 
and  the  fervor  of  his  language,  but  he  adds  little  to  the  stock  of 
our  information.  He  abounds  in  repetitions,  and  is  not  unfre- 
quently  confused  in  his  arrangement,  and  somewhat  negligent  in 
his  statements.  Though  eloquent  and  powerful,  his  discourses 
are  not  remarkably  instructive.  But  this  is  not  the  case  with 
those  of  Vinet.  While  they  charm  by  their  beauty,  and  convince 
by  their  persuasive  power,  they  abound  in  original  views,  and 
lead  the  mind  into  fresh  channels  of  reflection  and  feeling.  While 
one  is  satisfied  with  reading  the  productions  of  the  great  Scottish 
divine  once  or  twice,  he  recurs  again  and  again  to  those  of  his 
Swiss  compeer.  They  abound  in  "the  seeds  of  things,"  and 
possess  a  remarkable  power  to  quicken  and  expand  the  mind. 
On  this  account  they  ought  to  be  read,  or  rather  studied,  slowly 
and  deliberately.  Like  the  works  of  John  Howe,  which  Robert 
Hall  was  accustomed  to  read  so  frequently,  they  will  repay  many 
perusals. 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll 

Both  of  these  distinguished  men  are  truly  evangelical  in  their 
theological  views ;  they  develop  with  equal  power  the  peculiar 
doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  in  their  several  spheres  have  done 
much  to  promote  evangelical  religion  among  the  higher  and  more 
intelligent  circles  of  society.  Both  have  laid  their  great  literary 
and  scientific  attainments  under  contribution  to  illustrate  and 
adorn  the  religion  of  the  cross,  and  have  devoted  much  time  and 
attention  to  those  great  moral  and  politico-ecclesiastical  questions 
which  at  present  are  agitating  the  whole  Christian  world.  On 
most  of  these  questions,  the  views  of  Vinet  are  more  thorough 
and  consistent,  and  aim  at  a  complete  separation  of  the  church 
from  the  state  ;  a  result,  however,  to  which  Chalmers  has  come 
in  practice,  and  which  he  will,  unquestionably,  yet  reach  even  in 
theory.  They  are  alike  in  this, — that  both  of  them  are  possessed 
of  great  simplicity  and  earnestness  of  character.  Both  are  men 
of  genius,  and  men  of  God.  As  a  writer,  Vinet  leads  the  move- 
ment in  Switzerland  and  France  against  formalism  and  skepticism 
in  the  church,  and  particularly  against  the  union  of  church  and 
state.  Chalmers  is  doing  the  same,  at  least  by  means  of  action, 
in  Scotland  and  England.  Both  of  them  have  been  professors  in 
the  colleges  of  their  native  lands ;  both  have  seceded  from  the 
national  church,  and  yet  occupy  important  places  as  theological 
teachers.  They  have  written  largely  and  successfully  on  the 
subject  of  moral  science,  in  connection  with  Christianity,  and 
have  been  called,  by  their  published  discourses,  especially  to 
address  men  of  high  station  and  cultivated  minds. 

It  is  but  justice  to  say  that  Chalmers,  as  a  preacher,  is  probably 
more  popular  than  Vinet,  and  that  his  writings,  thus  far,  have 
secured  a  wider  circulation.  This,  however,  will  not,  in  our 
judgment,  be  the  case  permanently.  Vinet  must  become  popular, 
if  not  with  the  mass,  yet  with  the  thoughtful  and  cultivated, 
wherever  he  is  known.  His  reputation  in  Switzerland  and 
France  is  very  high  ;  he  is  also  well  known  and  highly  esteemed 
in  Germany,  where  his  discourses  and  other  writings  have  been 
translated  and  read  with  much  interest.  His  great  work,  "Sur 
La  Manifestation  Des  Convictions  Religieuses  et  sur  La  Separa- 
tion de  L'Eglise  de  L'Etat"  written,  says  one  of  our  leading 
Reviews,  "with  great  ability  and  eloquence,"  has  been  trans- 
lated into  German  and  English  ;  in  the  one  case  by  Dr.Volkmann, 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

in  the  other  by  Charles  Theodore  Jones,  and  has  attracted  much 
attention,  particularly  in  Germany,  where  the  way  was  prepared 
for  its  reception  by  the  two  works  of  Dr.  Rettig,*  and  Pastor 
Wolff,f  on  the  same  subject.  It  has  exerted  a  great  and  obvious 
influence  on  the  mind  of  Count  Gasparin,  member  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  in  France,  whose  writings  on  the  subject  of  religious 
liberty  are  destined,  we  think,  to  produce  the  most  salutary 
results.  Indeed,  this  work  of  Vinet  is  universally  admired  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  except  perhaps  by  some  of  the  friends 
of  the  alliance  of  church  and  state.  The  great  number  of  reviews 
and  replies  it  has  called  out,  is  a  striking  proof  of  its  value.  We 
are  apprehensive,  however,  that  the  English  version  gives  but  an 
inadequate  conception  of  its  force  and  eloquence.  It  seems  to  us 
wanting  in  freedom  and  elasticity.  Faithful  and  laborious  it 
undoubtedly  is,  but  it  does  not  reach  the  strength  and  beauty  of 
the  original. 

As  a  writer,  Vinet  has  many  qualities  akin  to  those  of  John 
Foster,  one  of  the  most  powerful  thinkers  and  vigorous  writers 
England  has  ever  produced.  He  has  the  same  earnest  and  con- 
templative spirit ;  the  same  freshness  and  originality  of  thought ; 
the  same  beauty  and  strength  of  diction,  with  more  of  ease  and 
gracefulness  of  expression.  The  thoughts  of  Foster,  to  borrow 
a  figure  of  Robert  Hall's,  are  presented  to  us  in  the  shape  of 
large  and  brilliant  masses  of  bullion.  Vinet's  are  wrought  into 
beautiful  and  elegant  forms. 

Merle  D'Aubigne,  Gaussen,  and  Vinet  in  Switzerland,  the  two 
Monods,  Grandpierre,  Audubez  and  Gasparin  in  France,  are  the 
leaders  of  a  noble  host  of  ministers  and  laymen,  who  are  devoting 
themselves,  with  great  strength  and  ardor,  to  the  regeneration  of 
the  church  of  Christ  in  continental  Europe.  Some  of  them  are 
dealing  heavy  blows  against  the  Papal  church,  as  well  as  against 
all  formal  and  secular  systems  of  religion.  They  breathe  the 
spirit  of  Christian  love  and  freedom,  and  are  evidently  destined  to 
accomplish  great  and  lasting  good  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  Indeed 
they  seem  to  be  the  pioneers  of  a  new  reformation  in  the  Helvetic 
and  French  churches  ;  on  which  account  their  writings  ought  to 

*Die  Freie  Protestantischen  Kirche  Giessen,  1832. 
fZukunft  der  Protestantischen  Kirche  in  Deutschland,  1838. 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

possess  a  peculiar  interest  to  the  people  of  this  country,  to  those 
of  them  at  least  who  have  consecrated  themselves  to  the  cause  of 
God  and  of  human  liberty.  God  bless  and  aid  them  in  their  noble 
and  self-denying  labors  ! 

Of  the  distinguished  men  who  are  engaged  in  this  second 
reformation,  Dr.  Merle  D'Aubigne  and  Dr.  Alexander  Vinet  are 
manifestly  the  master  spirits,  the  one  as  a  historian  of  great  re- 
search and  unrivalled  dramatic  and  descriptive  power,  the  other  as 
a  deep  philosophical  thinker,  an  able  controversialist,  and  an  elo- 
quent preacher.  They  are  intimate  friends,  living  some  fifty 
miles  from  each  other,  on  the  banks  of  the  same  beautiful  lake, 
the  one  at  La  Graveline,  just  beyond  the  walls  of  Geneva,  and  the 
other  at  Lausanne,  situated  on  high  ground,  ascending  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  lake,  and  overlooking  the  whole  extent  of  that 
splendid  sheet  of  water.  Between  these  two  places  easy  and 
constant  intercourse  is  enjoyed  by  means  of  small  and  rapid 
steamers,  which  are  constantly  plying  on  the  lake.  Dr.  Merle 
differs  from  Vinet,  on  one  or  two  theological  points,  as  he  himself 
has  informed  me,  in  a  brief  communication  recently  received,  but 
the  difference  is  slight,  and  in  my  humble  judgment,  in  favor  of 
the  latter.  He  objects  to  the  view  given  by  Vinet  on  the  subject 
of  faith,  in  his  two  Essays  on  the  Work  of  God,  which  appear  to 
me  to  be,  not  only  interesting  and  striking,  but  remarkably  just 
and  scriptural.  For,  if  the  affections  have  any  thing  to  do,  in  the 
act  of  faith,  if  faith  is  more  than  an  assent  of  the  mind,  or  a  mere 
intellectual  reception  of  the  truth,  then  is  it  a  ivork,  demanding 
the  whole  energy  of  our  spiritual  and  moral  natures.  "  With  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness  ;"  he  cannot  therefore  be 
justified  without  a  right  state  of  the  affections.  "  Strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate,"  says  our  Saviour;  and  this  striving  has 
reference  as  much  to  the  exercise  of  faith  as  to  the  performance  of 
external  duties.  The  reception  of  moral  truths  cannot  even  take 
place  in  a  passive  state  of  the  mind.  It  is  never  more  active  or 
energetic  than  when  seizing  or  embracing  the  mighty  facts  and 
doctrines  of  the  gospel,  which  are  fitted  alike  to  quicken  the  intel- 
lect and  transform  the  heart.  This  work  of  faith,  it  is  true,  differs 
essentially  from  those  works  of  the  law  by  which  no  man  can  be 
justified.  It  implies  no  merit,  and  cannot  therefore  be  the  pro- 
curing cause,  or  the  basis  of  our  acceptance  before  God.  Still  it  is 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

amoral  prerequisite,  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  please  God. 
It  receives  the  truth  "  in  the  love  of  it,"  cleaves  to  it  as  its  portion, 
and  works  it  up  into  the  whole  texture  of  its  spiritual  and  immortal 
nature.  On  this  subject  some  of  the  Swiss  and  French  evangeli- 
cal preachers  cherish,  we  fear,  imperfect  and  erroneous  notions. 
Even  Luther,  and  some  of  the  early  reformers,  had  somewhat 
narrow  and  exaggerated  views  of  faith,  and  did  not  sufficiently 
dwell  on  its  relation  to  moral  character.  Edwards,  in  his  book  on 
the  AFFECTIONS,  has  set  the  matter  in  its  true  light;  and  we  are 
pleased  to  see  so  profound  a  thinker  as  Vinet  urging,  essentially, 
the  same  principles  as  those  of  the  great  American  metaphysician 
and  divine. 

The  following  are  the  principal  events  in  the  life  of  our  author, 
so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain  them. 

Alexander  Vinet  was  born  17th  June,  1797,  in  Lausanne,  cap- 
ital of  the  Canton  Vaud,  Switzerland,  certainly  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  cities  in  the  world,  lying  as  it  does  upon  the  high  and 
sloping  bank  of  lake  Leman,  or  the  lake  of  Geneva,  as  already 
stated ;  adorned  with  squares  and  gardens,  fine  edifices  and 
delightful  promenades  ;  in  sight  also  of  the  high  Alps  with  their 
snow-clad  peaks,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Vevay,  Chillon, 
Villeneuve  and  other  places  of  classic  and  romantic  interest ;  at 
one  time  the  residence  of  Beza,  and  the  chosen  dwelling-place  of 
Gibbon,  the  historian  of  Rome.  An  Academy  of  considerable 
celebrity  has  existed  here  since  1536,  which  in  1806,  was  elevated 
into  an  Academic  Institute  (what  in  this  country  would  perhaps 
be  called  a  University),  with  fourteen  professors  and  a  rector.  It 
was  also  re-organized  in  1838,  and  separated,  if  I  mistake  not,  from 
all  immediate  connection  with  the  national  church.  From  its 
origin,  Lausanne  has  been  distinguished  for  its  high  literary  cul- 
ture, its  refined  and  agreeable  society.  It  is  the  residence  of  many 
foreigners. 

Destined  to  the  ministry  by  his  father,  who  regarded  the  clerical 
profession  as  the  most  desirable  arid  honorable  of  all,  Vinet  was 
placed  at  the  Academy  of  his  native  city,  and  pursued  the  ordinary 
course  of  studies,  occupied  however  more  with  literature  than 
theology.  Fortunately  his  mind  was  attracted,  at  an  early  period, 
to  the  study  of  moral  science,  for  which  he  possessed  a  decided 
genius,  and  which  exerted  a  very  favorable  influence,  not  only 
upon  his  theological  inquiries,  but  upon  his  religious  character. 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  two  years  before  the  legal  termination  of 
his  studies,  he  accepted  a  place  as  professor  of  the  French  lan- 
guage and  literature,  in  the  Establishment  of  Public  Instruction  or 
University,  at  Bale  (German,  Basle),  capital  of  the  Canton  of 
that  name,  a  fine  old  city  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  distinguished 
for  its  Cathedral  and  University,  once  the  residence  of  Oeeolampa- 
dius,  the  friend  of  Zuinglius,  and  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
preachers  of  the  Reformation,  and  also  the  burial-place  of  the 
celebrated  Erasmus.  Such  an  appointment  is  an  incontestable 
evidence  of  the  superiority  of  Vinet's  talents,  and  the  high  repu- 
tation for  scholarship  he  had  acquired  even  at  that  early  period  of 
his  life.  He  made  a  sojourn  in  Lausanne,  in  1819,  in  order  to 
submit  to  the  requisite  examinations  and  receive  ordination  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel.  He  returned  to  Bale,  and  continued  there 
till  1837,  as  professor  of  the  French  language  and  literature.  It 
was  during  his  residence  in  this  place  that  he  published  the  most 
of  his  earlier  writings,  and  established  his  reputation  as  a  preacher. 
In  1830,  he  published  two  discourses,  the  one  on  the  Intolerance 
of  the  Gospel,  the  other  on  the  Tolerance  of  the  Gospel,  which 
attracted  great  attention.  They  were  prefaced  in  the  following 
style,  furnishing  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  simplicity  and  mod- 
esty of  his  character.  "  Persons  advanced  in  Christian  knowledge 
will  find,  we  fear,  little  nutriment  in  these  discourses.  Nor  is  it 
to  them  we  have  felt  ourselves  called  to  speak  ;  it  would  better 
become  us  to  hear  them.  We  have  forbidden  our  words  to  trans- 
cend the  limits  of  our  personal  emotions  ;  an  artificial  heat  would 
not  be  salutary.  Nevertheless  we  hope  that  to  many  persons  we 
have  spoken  a  word  in  season  ;  and  we  cast  it  into  the  world, 
commending  it  to  the  Divine  blessing,  which  can  make  some  fruits 
of  holiness  and  peace  to  spring  from  it  for  the  edification  of  the 
Christian  church." 

In  this  brief  preface  a  peculiarity  of  all  our  author's  productions, 
and  especially  of  his  discourses,  reveals  itself.  They  are  "  born, 
not  made,"  originated,  not  manufactured.  His  soul  has  never 
been  cast  into  any  artificial  mould.  It  has  great  clearness, 
elasticity  and  strength.  He  is  therefore  entirely  free  from  hack- 
neyed phrases,  and  stereotyped  modes  of  thought.  His  discourses 
are  drawn  fresh  from  his  own  profound  spirit.  While  perusing 
them,  you  feel  as  if  you  were  listening,  not  to  the  mere  preacher, 


Xii  INTRODUCTION. 

but  to  the  deep  thinker  and  the  man  of  God.  He  never  transcends 
the  limits  of  his  own  personal  experience  ;  but  that  being  the 
experience  at  once  of  a  great  and  a  good  man,  it  possesses  a 
peculiar  warmth  and  beauty.  "  One  must  breathe  the  spirit," 
says  Pindar,  "  before  he  can  speak."  —  "Out  of  the  abundance 
of  the  heart,  the  mouth  speaketh,"  is  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Our  author,  we  think,  understands  this,  and  hence 
approaches  as  near  as  possible  to  the  model  which  John  Foster 
has  in  his  mind,  when  he  insists  so  strongly  on  the  necessity,  in 
evangelical  writings,  of  naturalness  and  entire  freedom  from  cant. 
Indeed  Vinet  distinctly  acknowledges  the  great  importance  of  this 
quality,  and  urges  the  same  views  as  those  of  Foster's  Essay  on 
the  Aversion  of  Men  of  Taste  to  Evangelical  Religion.  In  the 
Introduction  to  the  Volume  from  which  we  have  derived  the 
greater  part  of  the  Discourses  which  follow,  he  says  :  —  "  Feeble, 
I  address  myself  to  the  feeble.  I  give  to  them  the  milk  which 
has  nourished  myself.  When  some  of  us  become  stronger  than 
the  rest,  we  will  together  demand  the  bread  of  the  strong.  But 
I  have  thought  that  those  who  are  at  the  commencement  of  their 
course  need  some  one,  who  placing  himself  in  their  point  of  view, 
should  speak  to  them  less  as  a  preacher  than  as*  a  man  who 
precedes  them  by  scarcely  a  single  step,  and  who  is  anxious  to 
turn  to  their  account  the  little  advance  he  has  made  upon  them. 

"  It  is  perhaps  desirable  that  every  one,  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  knowledge  which  has  been  given  him,  should  labor  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world.  In  the  number  of  those  whom  I  may 
be  permitted  to  call  candidates  of  the  truth,  there  are  perhaps 
some  souls  that  are  particularly  attracted  by  the  kind  of  preaching 
I  have  employed,  and  employed  without  choice  ;  for  I  could  not 
choose  it.  I  say  perhaps,  and  nothing  more  ;  but  what  I  affirm 
with  more  confidence  is,  that  it  is  important  that  each  one  should 
show  himself  such  as  he  is,  and  not  affect  gifts  he  has  not  received. 

"  I  believe  I  am  not  mistaken  in  saying  that  among  those  who 
speak  or  write  on  divine  things  there  is  an  exaggerated  craving 
for  uniformity.  I  know  indeed  that  community  of  convictions 
and  hopes,  the  habit  of  deriving  instruction  from  the  same  sources, 
the  intimate  nature  of  the  relations  that  subsist  in  Christian  soci- 
ety, must  have  produced,  as  their  result,  a  unity  of  thoughts,  of 
intellectual  habits,  and  even  to  a  certain  extent,  of  expression  ; 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlll 

but  while  we  ought  to  admire  this  unity  when  it  is  produced,  we 
ought  to  make  no  effort  to  produce  it.  The  generous  freedom  of 
Christianity  is  repugnant  to  that  timid  deference  for  a  conventional 
language  and  a  vain  orthodoxy  of  tone  and  style  ;  nor  does  sin- 
cerity permit  us  to  adopt,  as.  an  expression  of  our  individuality,  a 
common  type,  the  imprint  of  which  is  always,  in  some  degree, 
foreign  to  us  ;  the  interest  of  our  religious  development  demands 
that  we  should  not  conceal  from  ourselves  Our  real  condition  ;  and 
nothing  would  be  more  fitted  to  conceal  it  from  ourselves  than  the 
involuntary  habit  of  disguising  it  to  others.  In  fine,  the  beauty 
of  the  evangelical  work,  and  even  unity  itself,  demand  that  each 
nature  should  manifest  itself  with  its  own  characteristics.  Confi- 
dence is  felt  in  unity,  when  it  produces  itself  under  an  aspect  of 
variety ;  community  of  principle  is  rendered  more  striking  by 
diversity  of  forms  ;  while  uniformity  being  necessarily  artificial,  is 
always  more  or  less  suspected,  and  involuntarily  suggests  the  idea 
of  constraint  or  dissimulation.  " 

It  was  probably  in  Bale  that  Vinet  formed  those  decidedly 
spiritual  views  of  religion,  so  clearly  developed  in  all  his  dis- 
courses and  other  writings.  In  this  place,  an  evangelical  influence 
in  greater  or  less  degree,  has  existed  ever  since  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  The  labors  of  Oecolampadius,  whom  the  good  peo- 
ple of  the  city  were  accustomed  to  call  their  bishop,  the  occasional 
presence  and  preaching  of  the  great  Swiss  reformer,  Zuinglius, 
the  decided  piety  and  activity  of  several  of  their  most  distinguished 
pastors  and  preachers  in  subsequent  times,  and  more  recently  the 
prevalence  of  a  noble  missionary  spirit,  have  conspired  to  impress 
an  evangelical  character  upon  the  place.  It  has  of  course  suffered, 
like  all  other  cities  in  Switzerland  and  Germany,  from  the  prev- 
alence of  rationalism,  formalism  and  infidelity;  still  the  fire  of 
divine  love  has  continued  to  burn  upon  its  altars,  with  a  pure,  and 
we  hope,  brightening  flame.  The  following  extract  from  a 
historical  sketch  of  the  Bale  Missionary  Society,  written  by  one 
of  its  members,  will  give  some  idea  of  the  kind  of  influence  prev- 
alent there. 

"  Scarcely  has  a  missionary  or  other  religious  German  society 
been  favored  with  a  body  of  directors,  richer  in  Christian  graces 
and  spiritual  gifts,  than  those  men  who  gave  one  another  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  for  the  establishment  of  a  missionary  institution 
at  Basle  in  1816. 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

"  The  twelve  members  of  the  Committee  residing-  at  Basle, 
were  clergymen  and  laymen  belonging  to  different  German  and 
Swiss  churches;  namely,  to  the  Reformed  church  of  Basle,  the 
Lutheran  church  of  Wurtemburg,  and  the  Union  of  the  Moravian 
brethren.  Yet  never  in  these  twenty-four  years  has  the  bond  of 
peace  been  broken  on  account  of  dogmatical  differences.  Loving 
and  serving  one  Lord,  they  have  been  one  in  his  Spirit.  The 
president  of  the  Committee  for  twenty-two  years  was  one  of  the 
fathers  of  the  Basle  Reformed  Church,  the  Secretary  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  Christians  of  the  south  of  Germany,  the  orig- 
inator, or  co-originator  of  many  of  the  Christian  institutions  which 
have  sprung  up  in  the  neighborhood  of  Basle,  since  the  beginning 
of  this  century  ;  the  treasurer,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Senate 
of  Basle,  and  head  of  one  of  the  greatest  mercantile  houses  of  the 
city;  the  principal  of  the  college,  down  to  the  end  of  the  year 
1838,  the  Rev.  C.  G.  Blumhardt.  The  memory  of  these  chief 
men  among  the  Lord's  people  in  our  country,  and  their  worthy 
associates,  will  ever  be  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all  the  brethren  of 
our  mission.  Dear  father  Von  Brunn,  the  senior  of  the  Basle 
clergy,  retired  in  1838  from  the  chair  of  the  president.  He  is 
still  alive,  a  venerable  octogenarian,  waiting  in  a  child-like  spirit 
for  his  entrance  into  his  eternal  home.  He  was  a  man  mighty  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  mighty  in  prayer,  powerful  in  love,  and  skilful 
in  comforting  the  troubled  and  heavy-laden.  He  was,  as  the 
head  of  another  Swiss  church  called  him,  the  high-priest  of  the 
mission.  May  his  end  be  peace  and  his  reward  glory  !  The 
Rev.  C.  Blumhardt,  who  departed  in  December,  1838,  was  a  man 
especially  prepared,  as  it  would  seem,  by  the  Lord,  for  the  difficult 
task  of  conducting  the  first  German  missionary  institution  of  this 
century,  through  a  generation  careless  of  religion,  opposed  to 
vital  godliness  in  every  form,  and  scornful  of  every  undertaking 
originating  with  the  superstitious,  bigoted  and  narrow-minded 
pietists.  When  he  died  he  left  the  mission  and  the  College 
flourishing,  gaining  ground  in  public  esteem  and  confidence,  and 
prepared  for  more  extended  action,  and  for  the  contemplation  of 
enterprises  of  which  it  would  have  appeared  adventurous  so  much 
as  to  dream  during  an  earlier  period  of  the  mission.  "  * 

In  1836,  Vinet  published,  in  Paris,  his  "  Discours  sur  Quelques 

*  Am.  Baptist  Magazine,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  301. 


INTRODUCTION.  X\T 

Sujets  Religieux,"  and  some  time  after  his  "  Nouveaux  Dis- 
cours,"  which  have  passed  through  several  editions,  and  attracted 
universal  admiration.  It  is  from  these  two  works  we  have  select- 
ed the  contents  of  our  volume,  under  the  head  of  Vital  Chris- 
tianity, or  Essays  and  Discourses  on  the  Religions  of  Man  and  the 
Religion  of  God.  On  the  whole  we  have  decided  to  give  to 
some  of  these  compositions  the  title  of  Essays,  rather  than  of 
Discourses  or  Sermons,  because  they  are  not  all  sermons,  in  our 
use  of  the  term.  Some  of  them  were  never  preached,  and  not 
even  written  for  the  pulpit,  though  designed  for  a  public  assembly 
before  which  they  were  read.  Hence  they  are  at  once  philo- 
sophical and  practical,  didactic  and  oratorical.  To  a  great  extent 
they  combine  all  the  advantages  of  the  lecture  and  the  oration,  the 
dissertation  and  the  sermon.  The  author  has  himself  referred  to 
this  circumstance,  expressing  his  apprehension  that  it  may  be 
regarded  as  a  defect,  and  states,  in  his  second  volume,  that  if 
divested  of  certain  forms  of  Expression,  the  discourses  of  that 
volume  might  be  called  studies,  rather  than  sermons.  They  are 
addressed,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  to  a  particular  class  of  per- 
sons, and  have  a  style  of  their  own,  although  well  adapted  to  be 
useful  to  all  who  may  read  them.  They  develop  what  the  author 
styles  the  Religion  of  God,  and  contain  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
philosophical  defences  of  evangelical  Christianity.  They  abound 
in  acute  and  cogent  reasoning,  as  well  as  splendid  illustration. 
Their  logic  is  as  striking  as  their  oratory.  * 

In  1837,  his  native  Canton  tendered  Vinet  an  invitation  to  suc- 
ceed the  professor  of  Theology,  in  the  Academy  or  College  of 
Lausanne,  who,  in  consequence  of  age,  had  resigned  his  place. 
This  appointment  was  confirmed  at  the  re-organization  of  the  Acad- 
emy in  1838.  Two  years  after  he  resigned  his  title  as  one  of  the 

*  That  we  have  not  overrated  Vinet  may  be  seen  from  the  following  ex- 
tract of  a  letter  by  the  able  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Observer,  M. 
G.  de  Felice,  professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Montauban  in 
France.  Speaking  of  his  work  on  Church  and  State,  he  says  :  "  It  is  a 
volume  of  500  pages  in  8vo.,  which  bears  the  impress  of  the  author's 
mind.  M.  Vinet  is  fond  of  philosophical  subjects,  and  discusses  them  in 
a  masterly  manner.  What  would  embarrass  others,  has  no  difficulty  for 
him.  He  is  naturally  profound  and  lofty,  and  can  pursue  his  thoughts 
to  the  remotest  abstractions.  He  is  a  theoretical,  rather  than  a  practical 
man ;  he  dwells  constantly  in  the  regions  of  pure  thought,,  in  which  he 
freely  displays  the  full  force  and  extent  of  his  mind." 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

national  clergy,  being  unwilling  to  adhere,  even  by  implication, 
to  the  principles  of  the  new  ecclesiastical  law,  which,  as  Yinet 
himself  says,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer,  places  the  church  in  the 
hands  of  the  state,  and  makes  the  ministers  judges  of  each  other's 
doctrines,  after  having  abolished  all  rule  or  system  of  theological 
instruction.  But  the  people,  with  whom  Vinet  is  highly  popular, 
insisted  on  his  retaining  his  professorship  ;  and  thus,  having,  in 
1838,  ceased  to  be  connected  with  the  ecclesiastical  establishment, 
he  felt  that  he  could  conscientiously  discharge  its  duties.  He 
occupies  this  station  at  the  present  time,  revered  and  loved  by  all 
who  can  appreciate  talent  united  with  moral  excellence. 

Vinet  has  suffered  some  persecution  for  his  enthusiastic  adher- 
ence to  the  cause  of  religious  liberty.  He  was  the  subject,  at  one 
time,  of  a  civil  prosecution,  on  account,  of  certain  expressions  in 
one  of  his  writings,  supposed,  by  the  authorities  of  the  Yaudois 
government,  to  be  seditious,  or  at  least  dangerous  in  their  ten- 
dency. No  judgment,  however,  was  rendered  against  him.  It 
was  the  occasion  of  his  publishing  an  Essay  on  "  Conscience  and 
Religious  Liberty,"  the  most  of  which  is  occupied  with  a  personal 
defence.  We  perceive  by  an  extract  from  the  Semeur,  a  religious 
periodical  published  in  Paris,  and  circulated  in  France  and  Swit- 
zerland, that  a  decided  movement  has  been  made  in  the  Cantons 
of  Yaud  and  Geneva  in  favor  of  the  voluntary  support  of  religious 
institutions,  a  result  to  which  the  writings  of  Yinet  have  greatly 
contributed.  "French  Switzerland,"  says  the  London  Patriot, 
"  has  been  occupied  for  some  time  with  discussion.  The  ecclesi- 
astical law  of  the  Canton  Yaud ;  the  recent  revolution  at  Geneva ; 
the  efforts  of  the  minority  in  Neufchatel  to  obtain  their  political 
rights  ;  the  affair  in  the  convents  in  Argovia,  and  the  civil  conflicts 
in  the  Valais,  have  rendered  it  necessary  to  investigate,  in  the 
names  of  religion  and  philosophy,  the  question  of  religious  inde- 
pendence. It  appears  the  moment  has  arrived  to  take  more  public 
measures."  A  convention  on  the  subject  has  been  held  in  the 
city  of  Lausanne, 'the  result  of  which  we  have  not  yet  learned, 
but  it  cannot  fail  to  exert  a  favorable  influence  on  the  cause  of 
religious  freedom.* 

*  While  the  above  was  going  through  the  press,  a  letter,  published  in  the 
New  York  Observer,  from  M.  G.  de  Felice,  gives  the  following  information 
relative  to  the  meeting  referred  to  : — 

"  The  meeting  was  numerous  j  members  came  from  several  cities  of 


INTRODUCTION.  XV11 

The  publications  of  our  author  are  pretty  voluminous,  comprising 
some  ten  or  twelve  volumes,  with  many  fugitive  pieces,  published 
in  the  Semeur  and  other  periodicals.  Some  of  these  are  prize 
essays,  couronne,  crowned,  as  the  expression  is,  by  the  Society  of 
Christian  Morals.  Nearly  all  of  them  have  been  translated  into 
German,  and  have  passed  through  several  editions.  His  produc- 
tions on  the  subject  of  Christian  morals  are  exceedingly  valuable, 
and  indeed  all  of  them  abound  in  original  and  beautiful  thoughts, 
and  breathe  an  enlarged  spirit  of  Christian  love  and  zeal. 

The  Essays  and  Discourses  we  have  translated,  are  addressed 
particularly  to  that  large  class  of  cultivated  minds  who  have  some- 
prepossessions  in  favor  of  Christianity,  but  who,  from  the  influence 
orMatent  skepticism,  do  not  yield  their  hearts  to  its  direct  and  all- 
controlling  influence.  This  circumstance,  as  already  suggested, 
stamps  upon  them  a  peculiar  character.  It  has  rendered  them  at 
once  profound  and  practical.  But  it  has  also  given  rise  to  some 
inconvenience  in  the  use  of  words,  as  the  author  himself  acknowl- 
edges. For  example,  the  words  reason,  nature,  life,  are  occa- 

French  Switzerland.    After  long  deliberations,  the  four  following  articles 
were  adopted : 

" '  I.  They  declare  that  they  desire  to  act  only  in  a  manner  conformed 
to  the  word  of  God.  Hence,  in  order  to  render  unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's,  they  recognize  that  it  is  their  duty  to  obey  the  magistrate 
in  all  that  is  not  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  They  will  employ,  there- 
fore, to  obtain  the  object  they  propose,  only  such  means  as  are  conformed 
to  this  word.  And  in  order  to  render  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's,, 
they  consider  that  they  are  under  obligation  to  do  all  in  their  power  for 
the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  namely,  for  the  triumph  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  faith,  for  purity  of  worship  and  morals  j  and  it  is  for  this 
end  that  they  are  met. 

"  '  II.  They  believe  that  God  forbids  alike  to  church  and  state,  all  claim; 
to  interfere,  as  such,  in  one  another's  domains. 

"  '  III.  One  of  the  characteristic  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures  is,  in  their 
view,  that  religious  acts  are  not  agreeable  to  God,  unless  they  are  volun- 
tary and  spontaneous. 

'"IV.  They  think  that  it  is  at  once  the  duty  and  the  precious  privilege 
of  Christian  churches  to  govern  themselves,  according  to  the  word  of  God 
only,  under  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  under  the  supreme 
authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  sole  Head  of  the  church  !? 

"  It  is  also  announced,  that  a  Society  is  about  to  be  formed  in  French 
Switzerland  for  the  promotion  and  advancement  of  the  voluntary  system. 
Time  will  show  what  hold"  this  work  has  on  public  sentiment." 
2 


XV111  INTRODUCTION. 

sionally  used  in  their  strict  and  philosophical  sense,  then  again  in 
their  more  loose  and  general  import.  At  one  time,  reason  is 
commended  and  exalted  as  ihe  gift  of  God,  and  the  criterion  of 
truth  ;  at  another,  it  is  contemned  and  rejected  as  an  impostor  and 
a  cheat.  In  the  one  case,  he  evidently  refers  to  reason  legitimate 
and  true,  occupying  its  own  sphere,  and  performing  its  proper 
work ;  in  the  other,  to  reason  perverted  and  false,  transcending 
the  limits  which  God  has  assigned  it,  assuming  extravagant  pre- 
tensions, and  trampling  upon  the  plainest  principles  of  science  and 
revelation.  Indeed,  as  the  author  suggests,  the  word  in  these 
instances  is  used  in  two  different  senses.  "  So  far  as  the  words 
nature  and  reason  designate  that  foundation  of  moral  and  intellec- 
tual truth  which  we  carry  within  us,  those  universal  and  immutable 
principles,  to  which  all  systems  appeal,  which  are  admitted  in  the 
most  opposite  theories,  and  on  the  common  ground  of  which 
opponents  the  most  decided  are  compelled  to  re-unite,  at  least  for 
a  moment,  nature  and  reason  merit  the  homage  I  have  rendered 
them  ;  for  if,  in  my  discussions,  I  had  not  set  out  from  this 
given  point,  whence  could  I  set  out?  But  so  far  as  reason  and 
nature,  instead  of  receiving  the  light  of  God,  instead  of  appealing 
to  it,  and  using  its  rays  to  illuminate  their  pathway,  pretend  to 
create  that  light,  or  to  speak  more  exactly,  so  far  as  it  is  pretended, 
in  the  name  of  nature  and  reason,  which  disavow  such  an  under- 
taking, to  communicate  to  man  an  illumination,  and  a  power, 
which  must  come  from  on  high,  I  erect  myself  against  that  abuse. 
And  if,  in  conforming  to  a  usage,  more  oratorical  than  philosophi- 
cal, I  designate  that  abuse  by  the  name  of  those  powers  which 
give  occasion  for  it,  if  I  call  nature  and  reason  those  pretensions 
which  are  raised  in  the  name  of  nature  and  reason,  I  confide  in  the 
attention  and  good  faith  of  my  readers,  without  concealing  what 
the  severity  of  philosophical  language  might  demand  from  me." 
With  this  explanation,  every  intelligent  reader  will  make  the 
distinctions,  clearly  indicated  by  the  spirit  and  scope  of  the  author's 
reasoning. 

"  Philosophers  and  men  of  the  world,"  says  Vinet,inthe  intro- 
duction to  the  first  volume  of  his  discourses,  "  invite  us,  in  some 
sense,  to  meet  them ;  having  lingered  long  in  the  precincts  of 
philosophy,  they  approach  towards  the  sanctuary.  The  secret  of 
life,  its  final  word,  is  demanded  from  all  quarters  ;  and  should 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

we,  who  know  that  final  word,  be  avaricious  of  it ;  should  we 
refuse  to  speak  it,  because  we  must  speak  it  to  philosophers  in  a 
language  less  familiar  to  us  than  to  them?  That  word  is  of  all 
languages  ;  it  is  susceptible  of  all  forms ;  it  has  a  thousand  differ- 
ent expressions  ;  for  it  is  found  at  the  termination  of  all  questions, 
at  the  close  of  all  discussions,  at  the  summit  of  all  ideas.  Long 
or  short,  direct  or  indirect,  every  road  is  true  that  conducts  to  the 
foot  of  the  cross." 

The  author,  however,  modestly  disclaims  all  pretension  of 
"  preaching  Christ  in  the  Areopagus,  or  entering  the  lists  with 
the  doctors," — but  adds,  that  he  had  involuntarily  turned  towards 
"  that  numerous  class  of  cultivated  men,  who,  educated  in  the 
bosom  of  Christendom,  and  imbued,  if  the  expression  may  be 
allowed,  with  Christian  prepossessions,  feebly  struggle  either 
against  their  own  heart,  frightened  by  the  solemn  aspect  of 
Christianity,  or  against  that  too  general  impression,  that  Chris- 
tianity, so  necessary,  so  beautiful,  so  consoling,  cannot  be  justified 
in  the  eyes  of  reason." 

As  to  the  first  difficulty,  he  proceeds  to  say,  "  The  Christian 
writer  will  not  consider  it  his  duty  to  remove  it,  by  abstracting  any 
thing  from  the  serious  character  of  the  gospel.  On  the  contrary, 
he  is  gratified  to  find  this  prepossession  established  ;  it  is  one 
error  less  to  eradicate.  The  fear  which  the  gospel  has  produced 
is  a  commencement  of  adhesion.  It  is  this  very  seriousness  which 
the  minister  of  the  gospel  ought  to  cultivate  to  maturity.  As  to 
the  second  difficulty,  which  turns,"  says  he,  "  on  the  old  opposi- 
tion between  faith  and  reason,"  he  makes  the  following  admirable 
remarks. 

"  He  who  speaks  of  revealed  religion,  speaks  of  a  system  which 
reason  cannot  discover  ;  because  it  is  necessary  that  God  himself 
should  communicate  it  to  us,  by  supernatural  means.  The 
Christian,  then,  rejects  reason,  so  far  as  it  professes  to  produce  or 
create  the  truth.  He  does,  in  his  sphere,  what  the  true  philosopher 
does  in  his  ;  for  the  latter  admits,  by  virtue  of  an  internal  revela- 
tion, facts  for  the  discovery  of  which  reason  is  of  no  use.  The 
philosopher  has  not  to  demonstrate,  a  priori,  the  facts  of  internal 
revelation,  a  revelation  without  antecedents,  and  anterior  to  all 
other  acquisitions.  The  theologian,  on  his  part,  recognizes,  in 
revealed  facts,  an  acquisition  superior  to  all  acquisitions ;  he  no 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

longer  proves  these  facts,  for  to  prove  them  would  be  to  create 
them.  By  acting  thus,  he  does  not  deny  reason  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  makes  use  of  it.  And  this  is  the  place  to  observe,  that  reason, 
that  is  to  say,  the  nature  of  things,  in  whatever  point  of  view  we 
place  ourselves,  will  always  be  to  us  the  criterion  of  truth  and 
the  basis  of  faith.  The  truth  without  us  must  always  be  meas- 
ured and  compared  with  the  truth  within  us  ;  with  that  intellectual 
conscience,  which,  as  well  as  the  moral  conscience,  is  invested 
with  sovereignty,  gives  judgments,  knows  remorse ;  with  those 
irresistible  axioms  which  we  carry  within  us,  which  form  a  part 
of  our  nature,  and  are  the  support  and  groundwork  of  all  our 
thoughts ; — in  a  word,  with  reason.  In  this  sense,  every  doctrine 
is  held  to  be  reasonable  ;  which,  however,  is  not  to  say  that  every 
doctrine  is  held  to  be  accessible  to  reason  ;  nothing  hinders  it  from 
receiving  that  which  surpasses  it.  Moreover,  beyond  this  invio- 
lable limit,  the  theologian  finds  space  and  employment  for  his 
reason  ;  he  even  applies  it,  in  two  different  ways,  to  the  facts  of 
the  supernatural  revelation  he  announces.  First  of  all,  he  devel- 
ops the  proofs  of  the  authenticity  of  such  a  revelation  ;  then  he 
applies  himself  to  prove  its  necessity,  as  well  as  its  harmony,  with 
the  immutable  nature  of  the  human  heart, — in  a  word,  the  perfect 
reasonableness  of  a  system  which  reason  has  not  discovered.  Nay, 
the  further  this  system  is  removed  in  its  principles,  from  the  dis- 
coveries of  human  reason,  the  more  does  its  coincidence  with  it 
become  striking  and  admirable.  Thus,  in  Christian  preaching, 
reason  abdicates  on  one  point,  but  only  on  one ;  it  is  satisfied  not 
to  comprehend,  not  to  be  able  to  construct,  a  priori,  the  principal 
facts  of  Christianity,  and  transfers  them  to  the  heart,  which 
embraces  them,  elaborates  and  vivifies  them ;  but  it  finds,  in  a 
neighboring  sphere,  the  rich  indemnities  we  have  just  indicated. 
By  itself  alone  it  cannot  form  the  Christian,  but  it  prepares  him  ; 
it  conducts  from  the  natural  to  the  supernatural,  those  whom  the 
powerful  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has  not  transported,  without 
intermediate  steps,  into  the  high  sphere  of  the  faith  of  the  heart. 
Thus  the  essential  opposition  which  is  proclaimed  between  reason 
and  faith  has  no  real  existence ;  they  are  two  powers  reigning  in 
two  distinct  spheres.  Those,  therefore,  who  would  make  Chris- 
tianity faith  alone,  and  those  who  claim  that  it  should  be  reason 
alone,  are  equally  mistaken  ;  it  is  both  ; — it  takes  possession  at 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

once  of  thought  and  feeling  ;  it  withdraws  from  examination,  and 
lends  itself  to  it  by  turns  ;  it  has  its  darkness  and  its  light.  The 
theologian  is  bound  to  prove  himself  well  informed  ;  he  ought  to 
conciliate  to  the  gospel  the  respect  of  reason  itself ;  but  he  ought 
by  no  means  to  place  the  gospel  on  the  same  level  with  reason  ; 
nay,  he  ought  carefully  to  guard  against  this. 

11  Between  the  two  extremes  we  have  exhibited,  the  rationalist 
preachers  appear  to  seek  a  middle  ground  ;  but  he  would  be  very 
simple  who  did  not  perceive  that  one  of  these  extremes  attracts 
them  powerfully,  and  claims  them  wholly.  How  ungrateful,  too, 
their  task !  To  reduce  every  thing  to  the  principles  of  nature,  is 
evidently  their  pretension  ;  to  cause  reason  to  usurp  the  place  of 
faith,  to  extirpate  from  religion,  by  little  and  little,  everything 
serious,  is  the  obvious  aim  of  their  labors.  But  when  they  have 
succeeded,  they  will  find  themselves,  like  ordinary  philosophers, 
face  to  face  with  mystery.  What  have  they  gained1?  Absolutely 
nothing ;  except  to  have  taken  a  longer  and  more  expensive  route. 
I  suspect  unbelieving  logicians  find  the  rationalists  indifferent 
philosophers. 

"  Is  it  perhaps  that  in  rationalizing  the  gospel,  they  have  found 
a  system  more  perfect  than  those  which  philosophy  can  produce  ? 
As  to  certainty,  their  system  possesses  nothing  more  than  any 
other  ;  as  to  intrinsic  value,  they  might  find  one  as  good  and 
plausible,  without  making  use  of  the  gospel.  That  meagre  Chris- 
tianity, which  they  put  in  the  place  of  the  true,  has  nothing 
peculiar  or  individual,  nothing  which  elevates  it  above  the  theories 
of  mere  reason.  They  imagine  that  by  retrenching  the  facts  of  a 
transcendental  sphere,  that  is  to  say,  supernatural  facts,  they  are 
merely  drawing  the  blade  from  its  scabbard  ;  let  them  say  rather, 
they  have  cast  away  the  blade,  and  that  the  hilt  only  remains  in 
their  hands.  Stripped  of  the  great  fact  of  expiation,  and  all  that 
cluster  of  ideas  connected  with  it,  what,  I  ask,  is  Christianity? 
For  ordinary  minds,  an  ordinary  morality  ;  for  others,  an  abyss  of 
inconsistencies.* 

*  A  striking  evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  following  passage  from 
Lessing,  a  distinguished  German  critic,  but  unfortunately  a  skeptic  on  the 
subject  of  Christianity,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Pye  Smith,  in  his  Scripture 
Testimony  to  the  Messiah,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  236.  Speaking  of  the  liberal  or  ra- 
tionalist divines  of  his  country,  he  says,  "  Under  the  pretence  of  making  us 
2* 


XX11  INTRODUCTION. 

"  I  am  persuaded  that  true  philosophers  will  find  that  evangelical 
preachers  have  taken  a  position  more  solid  and  philosophical. 
And  we  attach  value  to  this  suffrage  ;  for  if  philosophy  as  a 
science  does  not  inspire  us  with  much  confidence,  so  far  as  it 
relates  to  the  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  life,  it  is  not  so  with 
philosophy  as  a  method,  or  with  the  philosophical  spirit.  The 
art  of  abstracting,  of  generalizing,  of  classifying  principles,  will 
never  be  disdained  by  enlightened  Christian  preachers ;  besides, 
there  is  a  Christian  philosophy.  Retained  within  certain  limits, 
it  has  its  use  in  preaching,  and  even  in  life. 

"  If  it  is  a  means,  it  ought  to  be  employed.  The  times  are  omi- 
nous. Society  is  evidently  in  a  state  of  crisis.  Never  was  the 
impotence  of  human  wisdom,  to  consolidate  the  repose  of  nations 
and  the  welfare  of  humanity,  more  completely  proved.  Philosophy, 
deserting  in  despair  its  ancient  methods,  is  abandoning  itself  to 
mysticism.  In  its  need  of  some  other  light  than  its  own,  it  has 
recourse  to  revelations,  it  is  giving  itself  things  to  believe  ;  it  will 
believe  them  so  long  as  it  thinks  it  has  invented  them.  It  is  ours 
to  point  out  to  it  what  has  never  entered  the  heart  of  man,  —  ours 
to  render  it  more  and  more  sensible  of  that  obscure  want  which 
begins  to  have  some  consciousness  of  itself,  that  longing  to  attach 
reason  to  faith,  and  science  to  something  revealed." 

That  there  is  a  Christian  philosophy,  a  religion  of  God,  as  far 

rational  Christians,  they  have  made  us  most  irrational  philosophers.  *  * 
I  agree  with  you  that  our  old  religious  system  is  false  ;  but  I  cannot  say, 
as  you  do,  that  it  is  a  botch-work  of  half  philosophy  and  smatterings  of" 
knowledge.  I  know  nothing  in  the  world  that  more  drew  out  and  exer- 
cised a  fine  intellect.  A  botch-work  of  smatterings  and  half  philosophy  is 
that  system  of  religion  which  people  now  want  to  set  up  in  the  place  of  the 
old  one ;  and  with  far  more  invasion  upon  reason  and  philosophy  than  the 
old  one  ever  pretended  to.  If  Christ  is  not  the  TRUE  GOD,  the  Moham- 
medan religion  is  indisputably  far  better  than  the  Christian,  and  Moham- 
med himself  was  incomparably  a  greater  and  more  honorable  man  than 
Jesus  Christ  5  for  he  was  more  truth-telling,  more  circumspect  in  what  he 
said,  and  more  zealous  for  the  honor  of  the  one  and  only  God,  than  Christ 
was,  who  if  he  did  not  exactly  give  himself  out  for  God;  yet  at  least  said 
a  hundred  two  meaning  things  to  lead  simple  people  to  think  so  j  while 
Mohammed  could  never  be  charged  with  a  single  instance  of  double- 
dealing  in  this  way."  How  true  it  is,  that  to  abstract  the  doctrines  of  the 
Godhead  and  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  New  Testament,  is  to 
leave  it  an  abyss  of  inconsistencies !  T. 


INTRODUCTION.  XX111 

superior  to  all  human  philosophies  and  all  human  religions  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  no  believer  in  divine  revelation 
can  doubt.  It  is  not,  however,  a  speculation  or  a  theory,  but  a 
system  of  absolute  and  authoritative  truth,  so  simple  and  so  prac- 
tical, that  all,  even  the  unlettered  peasant  and  the  degraded  slave, 
can  receive  it  and  apply  it  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 
After  rejecting  with  contempt  the  wisdom  or  philosophy  of  this 
world,  the  apostle  Paul  adds:  "  Howbeit,  we  speak  \visdom 
(philosophy)  among  them  that  are  perfect,  yet  not  the  wisdom  of 
this  world,  nor  of  the  princes  of  this  world  which  come  to  nought ; 
but  we  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery.  "  That  is  to  say, 
this  philosophy,  or  religion  of  God,  is  a  revelation  from  above,  or 
the  development  by  God  himself  of  what  otherwise  would  be  a 
mystery  or  secret,  a  philosophy  therefore  of  original  and  positive 
truths,  a  definite,  absolute,  authoritative  philosophy.  It  is  thence 
to  be  received,  not  as  a  deduction  of  reason,  but  as  an  inspiration 
from  on  high,  a  doctrine,  altogether  peculiar,  altogether  divine, 
"  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,  even  the  hidden  wisdom  which 
God  ordained  before  the  world,  to  our  glory ;  — for  it  is  written, 
Eye  hath  not  seen,  ear  hath  not  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him."  These  things  are  the  original  facts  spoken  of 
by  our  author,  as  equivalent  in  authority  to  the  great  intuitive 
truths  which  all  philosophers  admit  without  proof,  and  antecedent 
to  all  speculation.  Of  such  revealed  facts,  philosophy  has  never 
dreamed.  Her  eye  has  never  seen  them.  Her  ear  has  never 
heard  them ;  her  soul  has  never  conceived  aught  even  resembling 
them.  They  are  hidden  from  the  world  entirely.  For  what  man, 
to  quote  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  knoweth  the  things  of  man, 
save  the  spirit  of  man  that  is  in  him?  And  who  but  the  Spirit 
of  God  knows  the  things  of  God  1  Man  may  know  himself;  man 
can  alone  know  what  passes  in  his  own  interior  nature.  No  be- 
ing in  the  universe,  but  God  and  himself,  can  know  the  facts  of  his 
own  mental  experience.  But  while  man  may  be  conversant  with 
his  own  mind,  he  cannot  be  conversant  with  the  mind  of  God. 
Therefore  the  Spirit  of  God  must  give  us  a  religion,  in  other 
words,  reveal  to  us  the  mind  of  God.  It  is  as  impossible  for  man 
to  give  us  a  perfect  religion,  as  it  is  for  one  born  blind  to  give  us 
the  knowledge  of  colors.  It  is  true  that  man  is  made  in  the  image 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

of  God  ;  and  he  may  thence  infer,  in  a  general  way,  that  God  is 
an  intelligent,  designing  and  governing  Being,  and  that  he  will 
be  controlled  by  the  principles  of  righteousness  and  benevolence  ; 
but  a  finite  mind  can  never  be  the  gage  of  one  that  is  infinite.  No 
creature  can  take  upon  himself  to  reveal  the  designs,  and  mark 
out  the  conduct  of  his  Creator,  in  all  the  possible  cases  in  which 
it  may  be  necessary  for  him  to  interpose  in  the  affairs  of  man- 
kind. Man  may  perfectly  manifest  himself,  but  he  cannot  per- 
fectly manifest  God.  It  would  be  an  infinite  presumption  for -him 
to  announce  the  principles  on  which  the  Almighty  will  dispose  of 
imperfect  and  sinful  beings,  and  what  provision  he  will 
make  for  them  in  the  everlasting  future.  This  is  a  matter  per- 
taining to  the  mind  or  Spirit  of  God  ;  it  is  a  subject  for  an  exclu- 
sive and  authoritative  revelation.  "  But  God  hath  revealed  them 
unto  us  by  his  Holy  Spirit."  Hence  the  religion  of  God,  or 
Christianity,  is  not  a  deduction,  but  a  testimony,  not  a  system  of 
opinions,  but  a  manifestation  of  truth.  The  natural  man,  that  is 
the  uninspired  or  unenlightened  man,  cannot  know,  cannot  dis- 
cover, "  the  things  "  of  such  a  revelation  ;  for  they  are  spiritually 
discerned.  They  shine  only  in  their  own  light,  can  be  seen  only 
in  their  own  light.  Properly  speaking,  they  cannot  be  proved, 
they  do  not  need  to  be  proved.  *  Like  the  sun,  or  the  stars  of 
heaven,  they  need  only  to  be  seen.  They  decline  all  attestation 
and  support  from  man's  philosophy.  They  infinitely  transcend 
all  his  science  and  logic.  In  a  word,  they  are  divine,  they  pro- 
ceed from  the  Infinite  Mind,  are  matters  of  pure  revelation,  and  are 
to  be  received,  in  adoring  reverence,  on  the  simple  ground  of  his 
indisputable  authority.  Man  can  measure  the  stars,  and  subdue 
the  lightning  ;  he  can  descend  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and 
bring  together  the  petrified  relics  of  past  generations,  and  thence 
write  the  history  of  the  earth's  revolutions  ;  nay,  he  can  analyze 
his  own  feelings,  and  construct  a  mental  philosophy ;  but  he  cannot 
enter  the  mind  of  God,  he  cannot  fathom  the  depths  of  his  infi- 
nite counsels.  "  Who  by  searching,  can  find  out  God,  who  can 
find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfection?  It  is  higher  than  heaven, 
what  can  we  do,  deeper  than  hell,  what  can  we  know?  The 

*  We  use  the  term  proved  here  in  its  strict  logical  sense,  as  equivalent 
to  demonstrated.  No  one  needs  to  prove  that  the  sun  shines.  He  sees  it, 
he  feels  it. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth,  and  broader  than  the 
sea."  Who  then  will  venture  to  sit  in  judgment  on  "  the  things 
that  are  freely  given  us  of  God ; "  or  arraign  the  wisdom  of  a 
scheme  for  the  redemption  of  man  originating  in  the  mind  of 
Jehovah? 

Those  that  convey  this  revelation  to  us  demand  investigation 
as  divine  messengers.  They  court  it  even,  they  glory  in  it.  For 
this  purpose  they  present  divine  credentials,  miracles,  prophecies, 
inspiration,  that  is,  indisputable  and  well  known  facts,  which  he 
who  runs  may  read  ;  but  they  will  not  allow  this  message  itself 
to  be  questioned  by  a  human  tribunal,  to  which,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  it  cannot  submit.  That  message  they  convey 
to  us  as  a  testimony  from  Heaven,  a  philosophy  from  the  Infinite, 
a  religion  from  God.  And  who  shall  say  that  it  is  not  refulgent 
with  the  light  which  irradiates  the  eternal  throne?'^ 

That  Jesus  Christ,  his  apostles  and  ministers  existed,  that  they 
wrought  stupendous  miracles,  that  they  fully  authenticated  their 
mission,  who  that  knows  history,  who  that  has  read  the  -New 
Testament,  can  doubt  ?  Reason  decides  this  point,  and  decides  it 
on  the  same  principles  on  which  it  proves  any  fact  in  science  and 
history.  But  the  communication  which  these  divine  messengers 
bring  to  the  world,  is  another  thing.  While  it  is  revealed  through 
selected  instrumentalities,  it  proceeds  from  God,  and  has  no  taint 
of  human  imperfection.  In  the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  we 
have  absolutely  and  truly  the  mind  of  God.  This  was  the  con- 
stant claim  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  ;  and  if  their  credentials 
cannot  be  sustained,  the  whole  falls  to  the  ground  as  a  deception 
or  a  dream.  That  man  who  disputes  the  miracles  and  the  his- 
torical facts,  calling  them  myths  and  legends,  denies  the  gospel, 
rejects  Christianity.  He  makes  the  Son  of  God  an  impostor,  and 
his  apostles  fanatics,  fools  or  knaves.  He  would  leave  us  with- 
out a  revelation,  and  prove  himself  a  more  honest,  and  a  more 
able  man  than  Jesus  or  Paul.  But  the  credentials  of  the  Chris- 
tian witnesses  can  be  sustained,  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles can  be  proved.  The  Son  of  God  must  have  risen  from  the 
dead ;  or  all  history  lies,  all  testimony  is  false,  all  virtue  is  a 
cheat.  A  spiritual  Christianity,  and  a  perfect  system  of  morals, 
at  once  written  and  embodied,  is  an  impossibility  without  a  his- 
torical Christianity.  It  is  the  life  without  the  man.  As  well 


XXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

then  might  you  destroy  the  body  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the 
life,  as  abstract  the  soul  of  Christianity  from  the  outward  form  in 
which  its  divine  Author  enshrined  it. 

Having  ascertained,  by  means  of  reason,  the  reality  of  the 
historical  facts  of  Christianity,  we  are  thus  compelled  to  receive 
the  revelation  which  it  conveys  to  us,  as  the  religion  of  God. 

Well,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  shall  "  the  mind  of  God"  permit 
itself  to  be  questioned  by  the  mind  of  man  ?  Shall  the  decisions 
of  Infinite  Wisdom  appear  before  a  human  tribunal?  Shall  a 
divine  philosophy,  a  method  of  pardon  and  eternal  life  from  God 
himself,  be  submitted  to  the  meagre  philosophy  and  the  petty 
logic  of  the  men  of  this  world  ?  Shall  the  gospel  of  Christ,  the 
religion  of  the  ever  blessed  God,  bow  down  and  do  homage  to 
the  gross  materialism  of  one  set  of  philosophers,  or  the  transcen- 
dental mysticism  of  another?  Above  all,  shall  it  be  forced  to 
cast  off  all  its  glories,  and  lie  in  the  dust,  a  withered  and  degraded 
thing,  to  gratify  the  pride  of  some  rhapsodizing  spiritualist,  who 
believes  himself  wiser  than  Christ,  and  all  his  apostles  ?  No ! 
the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  man,  and  the  weakness  of 
God  is  stronger  than  man.  Christianity  is  either  true  or  false, 
divine  or  human.  If  true,  if  divine,  it  is  absolutely  true,  abso- 
lutely divine.  It  is  a  matter  of  infinite  obligation,  and  must  be 
received  in  all  its  length  and  breadth  of  authority  and  application. 
We  do  not  want  simply  to  think,  to  hope,  to  imagine ;  we  want 
to  know,  to  believe,  to  rejoice.  In  man,  however,  we  can  never 
confide.  A  philosophy,  either  all  human,  or  half  human  and 
divine,  we  cannot  trust.  We  need  a  religion  from  God,  an  abso- 
lute religion,  a  perfect  and  indestructible  faith,  a  religion  for  life, 
a  religion  for  death,  a  religion  for  immortality  ;  so  that  "  our  faith 
may  stand,  not  in  the  wisdom  of  man,  but  in  the  power  of  God." 
With  this,  we  shall  be  safe,  with  this,  happy  and  triumphant, 

"Amid  the  wreck  of  matter  and  the  crash  of  worlds!  " 

The  world  by  wisdom  never  knew  God,  never  can  know  God. 
All  attempts  to  discover,  that  is,  to  work  out  and  excogitate  a 
perfect  religion,  must,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  prove  utter 
failures.  In  fact,  the  thing  involves  an  impossibility ;  for,  as 
water  can  never  rise  above  its  own  level, — since  the  part  is  never 
equal  to  the  whole, — since  imperfection  and  sin  can  never  com- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV11 

prehend  the  infinite  and  the  holy, — so  man  can  never  give  us  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  eternal  life.  Never  can  he  solve 
the  mighty  problem,  "  How  shall  man  be  just  with  God  ?  "  How 
shall  the  unclean  unite  itself  with  the  pure,  the  finite  with  the 
infinite,  the  fallen  with  God?  The  Father  of  spirits  must  himself 
interpose,  and  give  us  such  clear  and  explicit  information,  that 
no  sincere  and  humble  man  may  err,  upon  points  of  such  vast  and 
thrilling  interest. 

If,  then,  philosophy  cannot  discover  a  perfect  religion,  it  cannot 
certainly  modify  and  improve  the  one  already  given  us  by  God. 
Like  the  sun,  this  may  have  its  obscurities,  nay,  it  may  be  dark 
from  excess  of  brightness.  But  this  is  no  more  than  might  have 
been  expected.  Indeed,  this  very  circumstance  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  evidences  of  its  divinity.  A  religion  from  God 
must  have  its  aspect  of  mystery  and  difficulty.  It  belongs  to  the 
infinite,  it  runs  into  eternity.  Its  truths  are  the  stars  of  a  bound- 
less expanse,  and  are  set  in  a  firmament  of  gloom.  All  nature  is 
mysterious;  but  who  would  think  of  improving  it?  Can  any  one 
give  sweeter  hues  to  the  rose  of  Sharon,  or  the  lily  of  the  valley  ? 
Can  he  whiten  the  driven  snow,  or  impart  a  deeper  blue  to  the 
arch  of  heaven?  Can  he  give  a  nobler  curve  to  the  neck  of  the 
war-horse,  or  add  a  more  beautiful  green  to  the  grass  of  the 
fields?  Can  he  dispose  the  stars  above  him  in  more  perfect  order, 
or  add  a  deeper  lustre  to  their  silvery  light?  What,  then, 
can  speculative  philosophy  do  for  the  Christian  religion  ?  What 
can  reason  add  to  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God? 
Above  all,  shall  philosophy  dare  to  remove  a  single  tint,  a  single 
leaf  or  flower,  not  to  speak  of  a  branch  or  limb,  from  the  great 
Christian  tree  ?  Shall  we  permit  it  to  tarnish  the  glory  of  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh,  the  worth  of  Christ's  atoning  sacrifice,  or 
the  beauty  and  perfection  of  the  new-born  soul?  No!  it  has 
nothing  to  do  with  religion,  but  to  adore  it,  to  fall  prostrate  at 
the  feet  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  "  crown  him  Lord  of  all." 

And  yet,  speculative  philosophy  has  ever  been  tampering  with 
Christianity,  ever  debasing  its  purity,  ever  weakening  its  power. 
By  commingling  her  own  imaginations  with  the  plain  declarations 
of  God,  she  has  produced  what  Lord  Bacon  calls  "malasana 
admixtio,"  infinitely  worse  than  positive  error  itself;  for  the 
corruption  of  a  good  thing,  as  Horace  suggests,  ever  becomes 


XXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

the  worst  of  all.  Nay,  more,  philosophy  has  even  asserted  a 
sort  of  supremacy  over  Christianity,  now  modifying  this,  now 
changing  that,  now  adding  one  feature,  and  then  abstracting 
another,  till  religion,  in  her  hands,  has  been  transformed  from  an 
angel  of  light  into  a  hideous  phantom,  or  an  unsubstantial  ghost. 
What !  human  philosophy  superior  to  religion  !  Human  reason 
above  divine !  Why,  that  is  to  cast  down  Jehovah  from  his 
supremacy,  and  exalt  man  to  the  throne. 

But  what  is  philosophy?  The  speculations  of  one  man,  and 
nothing  more.  In  its  last  analysis  it  is  reduced  to  this.  For  it 
has  no  existence  separate  from  the  mind  of  an  individual,  and  no 
authority  but  what  it  derives  from  this  source.  It  is  the  system 
of  Spinoza  or  of  Descartes,  of  Leibnitz  or  of  Wolf,  of  Kant  or  of 
Hegel,  of  Locke  or  of  Helvetius.  It  is  the  notions,  perhaps,  of 
Jouffroy,  of  Cousin,  of  Carlyle,  or  of  some  inferior  spirits.  A 
number  of  such  persons  may  unite  in  defending  their  favorite 
theories  or  peculiarities.  They  may  form  a  school,  and  give 
currency  to  a  system ;  but  their  combination,  in  this  case,  gives 
their  opinions  no  additional  authority.  They  are  still  the  specu- 
lations or  notions  of  distinct  and  independent  individuals.  To  be 
received  they  must  pass  into  other  individual  minds,  into  mine  or 
thine,  as  it  may  happen,  and  thus  possess  no  weight  except  as 
the  probable  reasonings  or  plausible  speculations  of  a  single 
fallible  intellect.  They  may  be  true,  but  they  are  just  as  likely 
to  be  false,  nay,  they  are  more  likely  to  be  false  than  true. 
Hence  they  are  ever  fluctuating  and  passing  away.  One  theory 
supersedes  another,  and  all  become  feeble  and  effete  with  age. 
Time  will  devour  the  whole  of  them.  And  the  reason  of  this  is 
found  in  the  simple  fact  that  they  consist  of  speculations  on  sub- 
jects and  relations  which  lie  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  finite 
mind,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  are  but  the  splendid  imagin- 
ings of  gifted  but  erring  men.  In  such  a  case,  then,  to  assume  a 
superiority  over  the  religion  of  God,  is  to  deify  the  individual 
reason,  to  dethrone  God  and  worship  self. 

Reason,  as  Vinet  clearly  shows,  has  her  province,  and  a  noble 
one  it  is.  It  is  hers  to  examine  the  credentials  of  the  divine 
messengers,  to  question  their  character  and  purposes,  to  hear  the 
voice  of  God,  and  in  some  cases  to  explain  and  enforce  its  mean- 
ing ;  for  she  is  conversant  with  man,  in  whose  language  God 


INTRODUCTION.  XXIX 

speaks  to  us,  and  with  whose  modes  of  thought,  feeling  and 
expression,  reason  is  entirely  familiar.  It  is  hers  to  admire  and 
develop  the  beauty  and  harmony  of  the  religion  of  God ;  when 
received  and  authenticated,  to  trace  the  connections  of  its  various 
parts,  the  analogy  of  its  principles  to  the  teachings  of  nature,  and 
the  consistency  of  its  facts  with  the  profoundest  experience  of 
the  human  heart.  Reason  has  been  called  "  lucerna  Dei"  "  the 
candle  of  the  Lord  within  us  ;  "  but  certainly  it  is  not  fitted  to 
illuminate  the  sun.  It  has  also  been  denominated,  "  the  eye  of 
the  soul ;  "  and  if  it  is  so,  most  assuredly  its  proper  function  is 
simply  to  receive  the  light,  not  to  mingle  it  with  its  own  visions 
and  obscurities.  In  that  light  it  may  see  things  new  and  strange, 
perhaps  startling ;  nevertheless  it  must  receive  them  without  a 
murmur.  It  is  not  placed  in  the  soul  to  create  the  light,  or  to 
change  it  in  any  way,  but  to  receive  it  as  it  shines  from  the 
heaven  of  heavens. 

But  men  talk  of  reason,  as  if  it  were  a  God,  as  if  they  them- 
selves were  God ;  and  thence  plunge  headlong  into  the  infinite 
ocean  of  speculation  and  uncertainty.  In  their  adventurous  course, 
their  heated  imagination  may  see  many  strange  sights,  and  their 
pen  may  describe  them  in  language  of  surpassing  eloquence  ;  but 
they  will  soon  find  themselves  in  the  very  abyss  of  doubt,  per- 
haps of  despair.  Indeed  we  learn,  from  the  whole  experience  of 
the  past,  that  the  abandonment  of  an  authoritative  revelation,  and 
an  eager,  consistent  pursuit  of  what  is  called  "  the  truth,"  mean- 
ing by  this,  the  absolute  nature  of  things,  ever  conducts  to  infi- 
delity or  mysticism,  to  transcendental  and  impalpable  spiritualism, 
or  to  absolute  and  atheistic  doubt. 

For  the  same  reason,  much  of  the  religion  which  is  popular  and 
fashionable  in  certain  quarters,  or  what  is  sometimes  dignified 
with  the  title  of  rational  Christianity,  is  not  religion,  but  philos- 
ophy, not  absolute  faith,  but  human  opinion.  It  consists  perhaps 
of  an  admixture  of  philosophical  speculation  with  Christianity,  or 
it  is  Christianity  eviscerated  and  withered,  by  the  refining  process 
of  rationalistic  criticism.  Hence  it  is  ever  changing  in  its  char- 
acter, and  gradually  but  irresistibly  tends  to  infidelity,  to  whose 
ranks  it  is  constantly  transferring  its  votaries.  It  is  ever  learn- 
ing, ever  advancing  and  improving,  as  its  abettors  would  say,  but 
3 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

never  comes  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  In  one  case,  it  is 
transcendentalism  and  the  gospel,  in  another,  materialism  and 
Christianity  ;  in  a  third,  a  vague  mixture  of  all  sorts  of  notions  ; 
and  in  a  fourth,  a  single  feature  or  element  of  the  gospel, 
surrounded  with  the  grossest  skepticism,  like  a  single  tree  or 
fountain  in  a  boundless  desert. 

How  clear,  then,  it  is,  that  we  need  to  be  believers,  not  spec- 
ulators ;  men  of  God,  not  mere  philosophers.  The  soul  of  man 
longs  for  certainty  and  rest,  absolute  security  and  untroubled  re- 
pose. Where  shall  we  find  it  ?  In  the  dreams  of  speculative 
philosophy  1  In  transcendental  mysticism  ?  In  cold  and  heart- 
less rationalism?  In  the  endless  diversities,  the  beautiful  but 
ever-shifting  visions  of  rational  or  liberal  Christianity  ?  No  !  — but 
in  the  cross  of  Christ ;  in  the  atonement  and  intercession  of  the 
great  Mediator  ;  in  that  good  hope  through  grace,  inspired,  not 
put,  begotten,  not  made,  by  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  the  Son  of 
God. 

The  importance  of  these  principles  is  receiving  the  most  strik- 
ing illustrations  in  the  present  day.  Not  understanding  them, 
and  not  finding  sure  anchorage  in  the  haven  of  absolute  and  au- 
thoritative revelation,  some  are  driven  abroad  upon  the  open  sea 
of  conjecture  and  doubt ;  now  impelled  towards  the  rocks  of  infi- 
delity ;  now  imagining  they  have  discovered  the  promised  land  ; 
the  Eldorado  of  philosophy  and  religion,  in  some  new  and  vision- 
ary theory,  or  in  some  singular  and  unheard-of  system  of  Biblical 
interpretation ;  then  contending  with  the  waves  of  skepticism  ;  and 
finally  engulphed  in  the  roaring  surge  of  atheism  and  despair. 
One  rejects  the  divinity  and  inspiration  of  Christ,  justification  by 
faith,  and  the  regeneration  of  the  soul  by  the  Ploly  Spirit ;  —  and, 
in  order  to  maintain  his  theory,  casts  away  some  portions  of  the 
word  of  God,  and  subjects  others  to  a  most  tortuous  and  ungen- 
erous criticism.  Another  spiritualizes  the  whole,  and  establishes 
his  philosophy  or  his  creed,  on  the  ruins  of  common  sense  and 
all  established  principles  of  scriptural  criticism.  While  a  third, 
wiser  forsooth  than  all  the  rest !  rejects  one  half  of  the  word  of 
God  as  puerile,  and  makes  myths  and  legends  of  the  rest ;  casts 
away  the  prophecies  and  the  miracles ;  denies  the  incarnation  and 
resurrection  of  Christ ;  insists  that  Jesus  was  only  a  man,  a  good 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXI 

and  a  noble-hearted  man,  but  nothing  more  ;  maintains  that  other 
Christs  may  yet  arise,  greater  even  than  he  was  ;  and  that  all  of 
Christianity  is  transient,  except  one  or  two  great  principles  ;  and 
pours  contempt  on  the  mediation  and  atonement  of  Christ,  which 
the  whole  company  of  apostles,  and  the  church  of  all  ages,  have 
regarded  as  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto 
salvation ! 

Others  there  are,  who,  after  infinite  wanderings,  and  the  most 
strange  and  startling  changes,  "  ever  learning,  but  never  coming 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  like  Cain,  vagabonds  in  the  realm 
of  spiritual  things,  seeking  rest  and  finding  none,  finally  abandon 
the  pursuit  as  hopeless,  and  neglecting  the  great  salvation,  rush 
into  the  open  arms  of  Rome,  renounce  their  individuality,  and  find 
repose  in  the  absolute  and  infallible  dogmas  of  a  corrupt  and 
superstitious  church.  Such  persons  may  imagine  they  have 
entered  a  magnificent  palace,  but  it  will  be  found  that  they  are 
enclosed  within  the  walls  of  a  horrid  prison.  They  have  mistaken 
the  despotism  of  man  for  the  religion  of  God. 

We  have  been  constrained  to  make  these  remarks  introductory 
to  the  Essays  of  our  author,  because  we  deem  them  of  great 
moment  at  the  present  time,  and  in  the  hope  that  they  may  dispose 
some  to  read,  with  greater  interest,  his  lucid  and  striking  delinea- 
tions of  the  religion  of  God. 

As  to  the  translation,  we  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  we  have 
endeavored  to  steer  a  middle  course  between  a  rigidly  literal,  and 
a  very  free  version.  It  has  been  our  aim,  as  much  as  possible,  to 
preserve  the  peculiarities  of  the  author  ;  but  we  have  not  felt  our- 
selves bound,  in  every  case,  to  give  the  exact  turn  or  order  of 
expression,  particularly  in  those  cases  in  which  a  literal  rendering 
would  have  been  a  bad,  or  a  clumsy  one.  Still,  in  several  in- 
stances, we  have  retained  the  French  idiom,  believing  that  its 
occasional  use  gives  interest  and  vivacity  to  the  translation. 
Vinet  is  by  no  means  an  easy  author  to  translate.  The  original 
and  philosophical  cast  of  his  thoughts,  the  delicacy  of  his  concep- 
tions, and  the  refined  but  beautiful  turns  of  his  expression,  are  not 
easy  to  transfer  into  clear  and  elegant  English.  Indeed,  a  perfect 
rendering  of  any  book  is  scarcely  attainable,  but  an  approximation 
to  it  may  be  made  by  repeated  efforts.  After  all,  much  of  the 


XXX11  INTRODUCTION. 

beauty  and  power  of  a  great  and  original  work  must  be  lost  by 
the  transference,  like  the  delicate  bloom  of  flowers,  which  is  liable 
to  vanish  in  the  process  of  transplantation.  But  we  have  done 
what  we  could,  to  present  the  thoughts  and  expression  of  our 
author  to  English  readers  ;  and  "  we  cast  it  into  the  world,"  to 
use  his  own  words,  "  commending  it  to  the  Divine  blessing,  which 
can  cause  some  fruits  of  holiness  and  peace  to  spring  from  it  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Christian  church." 

Should  this  volume  be  acceptable  to  the  public,  it  may  be 
followed  by  another  of  a  similar  kind,  containing  the  author's 
remaining  discourses. 

R.  T. 

BOSTON,  May,  1845. 


VITAL    CHRISTIANITY. 


YITAL   CHRISTIANITY. 


i. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  MAN  AND  THE  RELIGION 
OP  GOD. 

"  Things  -winch  have  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man." — I  COB.  2 :  9. 

HUMANITY  hath  separated  itself  from  God.  The  storms 
of  passion  have  broken  the  mysterious  cable  which  retained 
the  vessel  in  port.  Shaken  to  its  base,  and  feeling  itself 
driven  upon  unknown  seas,  it  seeks  to  rebind  itself  to  the 
shore;  it  endeavors  to  renew  its  broken  strands;  it  makes 
a  desperate  effort  to  re-establish  those  connections,  without 
which  it  cannot  have  either  peace  or  security.  In  the 
midst  of  its  greatest  wanderings,  humanity  never  loses  the 
idea  of  its  origin  and  destiny;  a  dim  recollection  of  its 
ancient  harmony  pursues  and  agitates  it;  and  without 
renouncing  its  passions,  without  ceasing  to  love  sin,  it 
longs  to  re-attach  its  being,  full  of  darkness  and  misery,  to 
something  luminous  and  peaceful,  and  its  fleeting  life  to 
something  immovable  and  eternal.  In  a  word,  God  has 
never  ceased  to  be  the  want  of  the  human  race.  Alas ! 
their  homage  wanders  from  its  proper  object,  their  worship 


36  THE    RELIGIONS    OF    MAN, 

becomes  depraved,  their  piety  itself  is  impious;  the  reli- 
gions which  cover  the  earth  are  an  insult  to  the  unknown 
God,  who  is  their  object.  But  in  the  midst  of  these 
monstrous  aberrations,  a  sublime  instinct  is  revealed;  and 
each  of  these  false  religions  is  a  painful  cry  of  the  soul, 
torn  from  its  centre  and  separated  from  its  object.  It  is  a 
despoiled  existence,  which,  in  seeking  to  clothe  itself, 
seizes  upon  the  first  rags  it  finds ;  it  is  a  disordered  spirit, 
which,  in  the  ardor  of  its  thirst,  plunges,  all  panting,  into 
fetid  and  troubled  waters;  it  is  an  exile,  who,  in  seeking 
the  road  to  his  native  land,  buries  himself  in  frightful 
deserts. 

From  the  brutal  savage,  who  kisses  the  dust  from  the 
feet  of  some  hideous  idol,  to  the  magi  of  the  East,  adoring 
in  the  sun  the  immortal  soul  of  nature,  and  the  principle 
of  all  existence,  to  those  unhappy  nations  who  think  to 
render  him  homage,  by  the  most  shameful  excesses,  the 
religious  principle  every  where  makes  itself  known.  Man 
cannot  renounce  either  his  sins  or  God;  his  corruption 
chains  him  to  this  world,  a  mysterious  instinct  impels  him 
towards  that  which  is  invisible.  Between  these  two 
opposing  forces  he  makes  no  choice ;  he  attempts  to  recon- 
cile two  incompatible  elements ;  he  confounds  his  morality 
with  his  devotion ;  he  makes  gods  resembling  himself,  in 
order  to  offer  them  a  worship  analogous  to  his  own  evil 
thoughts;  he  erects  even  his  vices  into  divinities;  his 
religion  becomes  the  faithful  mirror  of  his  natural  corrup- 
tion; in  a  word,  he  degrades  the  idea  of  the  Divinity,  but 
he  cannot  do  without  it ;  and  he  prefers  infamous  gods 
rather  than  adore  nothing. 

But  what  do  all  these  different  religions  procure  for 
him  ?  Nothing  but  a  torment  added  to  all  his  other 
torments;  a  painful,  humiliating  subjection;  frequently 
the  necessity  to  do  violence  to  the  most  cherished  feelings 
of  his  nature;  no  solid  hope;  no  internal  repose;  no  moral 


AND   THE    RELIGION    OF    GOD.  37 

perfection;  such  is  the  value  of  that  mysterious  instinct,  a 
species  of  importunate  craving  which  he  can  neither  stifle 
nor  satisfy.  So  that  he  who  looks  upon  religion  in  the 
various  terrestrial  forms  with  which  it  has  clothed  itself, 
might  say,  with  an  appearance  of  reason,  that  it  is  one  of 
the  greatest  evils  nature  has  inflicted  on  humanity. 

These  fabulous  creeds,  it  is  true,  disappear  before 
Christianity ;  for  the  least  effect  of  that  august  religion,  is 
to  produce  a  disgust  with  all  others.  No  new  worship 
will  establish  itself  on  the  earth;  the  field  of  invention  in 
the  matter  of  positive  religions  is  irrevocably  enclosed. 
But  in  the  shadow  of  Christianity,  and  in  the  very  bosom 
of  the  church  itself,  there  flourish  certain  religions,  without 
a  history,  without  form  and  name,  which,  to  many  persons, 
take  the  place  of  Christianity.  These  religions,  which 
owe  more  to  it  than  their  votaries  imagine,  are  nothing 
more  than  an  effort  of  the  different  faculties  of  the  soul,  of 
their  own  accord,  to  put  themselves  in  communication 
with  the  Deity.  It  is  the  imagination,  the  sentiment,  the 
reason  and  the  conscience,  seeking  together,  or  each  by 
itself,  to  satisfy  the  longing  they  have  for  God.  And  it  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  these  different  religions  are  partic- 
ularly those  of  cultivated  minds,  who  wish  to  find  a  neutral 
ground  between  Christianity,  which  appears  to  them  too 
simple  and  unintellectual,  and  atheism,  by  which  they  are 
appalled.  But  let  us  inquire  if  these  religions  are  better 
fitted  than  gross  paganism  to  satisfy  the  various  wants  of 
the  human  soul. 

What,  in  reference  to  religion,  are  the  wants  of  man? 
He  is  ignorant  of  divine  things;  he  needs  a  religion  to 
enlighten  him.  He  is  unhappy  from  the  evils  of  this  life, 
and  the  uncertainty  of  his  future  destiny;  he  needs  a 
religion  to  console  him.  In  fine,  he  is  a  sinner;  he  needs 
a  religion  to  regenerate  him.  Let  us  seek  these  various 
characteristics  in  the  four  religions  of  the  imagination,  the 
intellect,  the  sentiment,  and  the  conscience. 


38  THE    RELIGIONS    OF   MAN, 

To  some,  the  Deity  is  revealed  only  in  that  which  is 
fitted  to  strike  the  imagination.  It  is  not  the  essence  of 
the  Being  of  beings,  nor  his  moral  character,  nor  his  will, 
which  chiefly  occupies  their  attention,  but  that  part  of  his 
being  by  means  of  which  he  is  rendered,  in  some  measure, 
sensible  to  our  regards.  It  is  the  universe,  that  is  to  say, 
time,  space,  forms,  in  which  are  reflected  his  eternity,  his 
greatness  and  his  power.  If  the  spectacles  of  nature  in 
themselves  are  grand  and  sublime,  how  much  are  they 
elevated  by  the  idea  of  that  WORD  which  called  from 
nothing  all  their  magnificence;  of  that  Intelligence  which 
presides  over  all  those  mighty  movements,  which  encloses 
as  many  wonders  in  the  worm  that  dies  under  our  feet,  as 
in  the  formation  and  government  of  suns !  What  charm 
and  what  beauty  are  added  to  the  splendor  of  the  starry 
heavens,  to  the  savage  harmony  of  the  raging  seas,  to  the 
smiling  landscape  of  fields  and  woods  under  the  beams  of 
the  morning  sun,  by  the  thought  of  the  universal  Spirit, 
which  silently  circulates  through  all  beings,  and  which 
seems  to  reveal  its  immortal  existence,  and  utter  its  voice 
divine,  amid  all  the  motions  and  all  the  sounds  of  the 
universe!  So  that,  frequently,  man,  absorbed  in  the 
contemplation  of  these  wonders,  unites  himself,  by  his 
enthusiasm,  to  the  concert  of  the  creation;  his  imagination 
feasts  on  the  idea  of  God,  and  he  believes  himself  to 
possess  religion. 

The  imagination,  the  reason,  the  sensibility,  the  con- 
science, however,  are  four  altars  set  up,  between  which  the 
sacred  flame  is  divided;  but  imagination  is  not  the  whole 
of  man ;  it  is  not,  by  far,  his  best  part.  When  the  imagi- 
nation has  been  excited  in  this  way,  is  man  any  more  like 
God?  Is  he  more  worthy  of  God?  And  not  to  go  even 
so  far,  has  he  more  of  peace  or  consolation?  No!  the 
charm  is  evanescent ;  from  those  heights  to  which  imagi- 
nation raises  him,  man  falls  back  upon  himself,  and  finds 


AND   THE    RELIGION    OF    GOD.  39 

not  God  there;  and  the  mighty  spectacles  in  which  he  has 
mingled,  only  make  him  feel  the  enormous  disproportion 
between  the  universe  so  full  of  God,  and  his  soul  so  void 
of  God. 

Others,  in  smaller  number,  seek  to  bring  themselves 
into  union  with  the  Divinity  by  intelligence.  To  analyze 
the  divine  attributes,  to  harmonize  them,  to  explain  the 
connection  of  the  Creator  with  the  creation;  in  a  word,  to 
form,  with  reference  to  God  and  divine  things,  a  body  of 
systematic  doctrine,  is  the  task  they  impose  upon  them- 
selves; and  such  labors,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  a  noble 
exercise  of  thought.  But  a  principal  defect  of  this  form  of 
religion  is,  that  it  is  less  a  religion  than  a  study.  Ordina- 
rily the  man  who  stops  here  seeks  less  to  satisfy  a  want  of 
his  heart  than  a  curiosity  of  his  mind.  Abstracted  from 
himself,  isolating  himself  from  the  things  he  contemplates, 
in  order  the  better  to  contemplate  them,  application, 
practice,  his  personal  relations  to  these  high  truths,  occupy 
his  attention  but  feebly;  he  acquires  some  additional  ideas, 
but  these  ideas  produce  in  him  neither  emotion  nor  change. 
And,  indeed,  how  can  he  be  changed  by  the  things  which 
always  remain  uncertain  to  his  mind?  The  field  of 
religious  ideas,  when  it  is  trodden  by  the  foot  of  natural 
reason,  is  only  a  field  of  problems  and  contradictions.  The 
further  one  advances,  the  more  his  darkness  increases; 
and  he  ends  by  losing  even  those  primary  notions  and 
instinctive  beliefs  which  he  possessed  before  he  entered  it. 
This  is  the  experience  of  all  the  systems  of  all  the  schools 
in  every  age  of  the  world.  The  history  of  philosophy 
teaches  us  that  these  investigations,  whenever  eagerly  and 
incautiously  pursued,  lead  to  the  most  terrible  doubts,  to- 
the  very  borders  of  the  abyss.  It  is  there,  face  to  face 
with  the  infinite,  the  philosopher  sees  realities  dissolve,, 
certainties  the  most  universal  vanish,  his  own  personality 
become  a  problem!  There  he  sees  world  and  thought, 


40  THE    RELIGIONS    OF    MAN, 

observation  and  observer,  man  and  God,  swallowed  up  and 
lost,  before  his  terrified  vision  in  the  boundless  immensity 
of  a  horrible  chaos !  It  is  there  that,  seized  with  a  myste- 
rious dread,  he  asks  back,  with  anxious  emotion,  the  world 
of  finite  beings  and  intelligible  ideas,  which  he  wishes  he 
had  never  abandoned.  Thus  his  religion,  all  thought, 
neither  enlightens,  converts,  nor  consoles  him ;  and  he 
finds  himself  as  far  removed  from  his  aim  as  before  his 
laborious  investigations.* 

*  That  speculative  philosophy  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  skepticism 
and  irreligion,  no  one  at  all  acquainted  with  its  history  will  deny.  The 
class  of  philosophers  of  whom  Benedict  Spinoza  and  G.  W.  F.  Hegel  are 
fair  representatives,  have  generally  rejected  the  Christian  faith,  and  not 
only  so,  but  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  Nor  is  this  a  matter  of  surprise  5  for  they  transcend  the  boundaries 
of  all  fair  and  legitimate  inquiry.  Contemning  the  slow  and  laborious 
investigation  of  facts  and  evidence,  as  empirical  and  shallow,  and  specu- 
lating fearlessly  upon 

"  Fixed  fate,  free-will,  foreknowledge  absolute," 

they  lose  themselves  in  the  untried  and  desolate  regions  which  lie  beyond 
the  limits  of  human  inquiry.  Now  they  seem  to  make  every  thing  matter  j 
then  they  seem  to  make  every  thing  mind  ;  anon  they  talk  learnedly  of 
"  the  whole/'  as  if  nature  were  God,  and  God  nature,  without  any  distinc- 
tion, except  that  which  exists  between  the  absolute  and  relative,  the  real 
and  phenomenal.  Occasionally  they  appear  to  admit  the  existence  of  an 
independent  and  personal  God,  at  other  times  to  deny  it  altogether.  They 
spurn  the  common,  and  especially  the  Christian  notion  of  a  supreme 
Jehovah,  distinct  from  and  superior  to  all  the  works  of  the  creation,  and 
adopting  a  profounder  strain,  represent  the  Deity  as  the  eternal  movement 
of  the  universal  principle,  "  the  ever-streaming  immanence  of  spirit  in 
matter,  which  constantly  manifests  itself  in  individual  existences,  and 
which  has  no  true  objective  (real)  existence  but  in  these  individuals,  which 
pass  away  again  into  the  infinite."  These  are  the  words  of  Strauss, 
author  of  the  "Leben  Jesu,"  whose  rejection  of  a  historical  Christianity  is 
the  legitimate  fruit  of  his  speculative  philosophy,  just  as  a  similar  rejection 
of  the  Christian  miracles,  and  particularly  the  miracle  of  Christ's  resur- 
rection, by  Theodore  Parker,  is  the  fruit  of  the  metaphysical  system, 
which,  as  he  remarks  himself,  "underlies"  his  theology.  "Strauss," 
Bays  Professor  Tholuck,  in  his  "Anzeiger,"  for  May,  1836,  "  is  a  man  who 
knows  no  other  God  than  him  who,  in  the  human  race,  is  constantly 


AND   THE    RELIGION    OF    GOD.  41 

Feeling  this,  many  persons  reject  these  idle  speculations 
and  acknowledge  no  religion  but  that  of  sentiment.  This, 
they  say,  is  good  ;  and  certainly,  all  religion  that  proceeds 
not  from  the  heart  is  sterile  and  vain.  Let  us,  however, 
examine.  We  are  speaking  of  a  religion  of  sentiment. 
Without  doubt  this  sentiment  is  love,  and  a  love  which  has 
God  for  its  object;  —  in  which  case  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  the  best  kind  of  religion  is  also  the  rarest,  or 
that  the  love  spoken  of  is  a  feeling  exceedingly  barren,  an 
affection,  so  to  speak,  without  result.  Many  great  things 
are  done  on  the  earth,  things  at  least  that  men  call  great. 
The  activity  of  the  mind  responds  to  the  activity  of  out- 
ward life.  Each  day  sees  some  new  plans  brought  to 
light,  some  new  enterprises  begun.  But  amid  all  these  ac- 
tions, form  an  estimate  of  those  which  have  for  their  prin- 
ciple the  love  of  God,  and  you  will  admit,  if  the  religion  of 
love  be  the  best,  it  is  not  the  practice  of  a  great  number. 
In  fact,  the  love  of  God,  if  by  this  you  mean  a  love,  real, 
earnest,  dominant,  is  not  natural  to  the  heart  of  man.  And, 
let  us  be  honest ;  how  can  we  love,  with  such  love,  a  God 
from  whom  we  are  far  removed  by  our  sins  and  the  world- 
liness  of  our  affections ;  a  God,  who,  in  our  better  mo- 
ments, cannot  appear  to  us  except  in  the  aspect  of  a  judge ;, 
a  God,  whose  paternal  providence  is  veiled  from  our  minds, 
because  we  know  no  better,  or  do  not  know  at  all,  the  ador- 

becoming  man.  He  knows  no  Christ  but  the  Jewish  rabbi,  who  made 
his  confession  of  sin  to  John  the  Baptist ;  and  no  heaven  but  that  which 
speculative  philosophy  reveals  for  our  enjoyment  on  the  little  planet  we 
now  inhabit."  To  the  same  purpose  is  Strauss's  own  language : — "As 
man,  considered  as  a  mere  finite  spirit  and  restricted  to  himself,  has  no 
reality,  so  God,  considered  as  an  infinite  Spirit,  restricting  himself  to  his 
infinity,  has  no  reality.  The  infinite  Spirit  has  reality  only  so  far  as  he 
unites  himself  to  finite  spirits  (or  manifests  himself  in  them),  and  the 
finite  spirit  has  reality  only  so  far  as  he  sinks  himself  in  the  infinite." 

Leben  Jesu,  p.  730. 

Such  is  the  last  result  of  that  boasted  philosophy,  which  begins  by 
explaining  every  thing,  and  ends  with  doubting  every  thing.  T. 

4 


42  THE    RELIGIONS    OF    MAN, 

able  secret  of  all  his  procedure  toward  us  ?  How  can  we 
love  him,  so  long  as  we  cannot  account  for  the  disorders  of 
the  physical  and  the  moral  worlds,  and  while  the  universe 
appears  to  us  a  vast  arena,  in  which  chance  puts  in  com- 
petition justice  and  injustice,  and  coldly  decides  between 
them?  A  doubt,  a  single  doubt  on  the  end  of  life,  and  the 
intentions  of  God  would  serve  to  tarnish,  nay  more,  to  ex- 
tinguish, in  the  anxious  heart,  the  first  germs  of  love.  But 
this  is,  more  or  less,  the  condition  we  are  in,  without  the 
light  of  revelation.  To  what  then  is  love  reduced,  and  by 
consequence,  the  religion  of  sentiment,  in  the  greater  num- 
ber of  the  persons  who  appear  to  have  approached  the  near- 
est to  its  attainments.  What !  does  he,  think  you,  love 
God,  who  opens  his  heart  merely  to  the  fugitive  emotion, 
which  is  excited  by  the  view  of  his  beneficence  spread  over 
the  whole  face  of  nature  ?  Does  he  love  him,  who,  follow- 
ing the  degree  of  sensibility  with  which  he  is  endowed, 
yields  to  an  involuntary  tenderness,  at  the  thought  of  that 
immense  paternity  which  embraces  all  animated  beings, 
from  the  seraph  to  the  worm  ?  One  may  experience  this 
kind  of  love,  and  never  be  changed.  If  any  thing  is  evi- 
dent, it  is  that  the  sensibility  which  frequently  overflows 
in  tears,  often  leaves  in  the  heart  a  large  place  for  selfish- 
ness ;  just  as  our  fellow-men  do  not  always  derive  any  ad- 
vantage from  the  tenderness  we  have  felt  at  a  distance 
from  them.  Love,  true  love  of  God,  is  a  love  of  his  truth, 
of  his  holiness,  of  his  entire  will ;  true  love  is  that  which 
is  reflected  in  obedience ;  that  which  renews  and  purifies 
the  conscience. 

This  brings  us  to  the  fourth  religion,  which  man  makes 
for  himself,  that  of  conscience.  It  is  well,  then,  if  in  our 
turn  we  can  say,  this  is  good.  For  what  is  conscience, 
but  the  impulse  to  do  the  will  of  God,  and  to  resemble  Him  ? 
And  what  do  we  want  when  we  have  arrived  at  this  ? 
Let  us  congratulate  those  who  cleave  to  the  religion  of 


AND    THE    RELIGION    OF    GOD.  43 

conscience,  and  regret  that  their  number  is  so  small.  But 
what  am  I  saying  ?  Congratulate  them  !  Let  us  think  a 
little  !  Have  we  reflected  on  the  course  that  opens  before 
them  ?  The  religion  of  conscience  !  Is  it  not  that  which 
commands  us  to  live  for  God,  to  do  nothing  but  for  God ; 
to  devote  ourselves,  body  and  soul,  entirely  to  Him  ?  Is  it 
not  that  which  teaches  us  that  to  refuse  any  thing  to  Him,  is 
to  rob  Him;  because  by  sovereign  right,  every  thing  with- 
in and  without  us  belongs  to  him  ?  Is  it  not  that  which 
teaches  that  we  cannot  do  too  much  for  Him,  and  that  all 
our  future  efforts  can  never  compensate  for  a  single  past 
neglect  ?  Is  it  not  that,  then,  which  condemns  our  life,  ab- 
solutely and  irrevocably,  and  presents  us  before  Him,  not 
as  children,  not  even  as  supplicants,  but  as  condemned 
criminals  ?  Say,  then,  if  the  religion  of  conscience  is  good  ! 
Yes !  for  consciences  free,  indulgent  to  themselves,  without 
delicacy,  and  without  purity  ;  but  the  greater  your  attach- 
ment to  your  duties,  the  more  scrupulous  you  are  to  fulfil 
them,  the  more  severe  and  complete  the  idea  you  have 
formed  of  the  divine  law,  the  more  shall  that  religion  be 
terrible  to  you ;  and,  so  far  from  offering  you  consolations, 
it  will  take  away  from  you  one  by  one  all  those  you  might 
derive  from  yourselves.  Quit,  for  a  moment,  the  scenes  of 
the  present,  and  the  circle  of  Christianity ;  observe,  at  a 
glance,  the  religion  of  mankind,  enter  all  their  temples, 
look  upon  all  their  altars;  —  what  do  you  see?  Blood! 
Blood  to  honor  the  Deity !  Ah  !  we  are  compelled  to  say 
that  blood  is  there,  for  a  thousand  virtues  neglected,  a  thou- 
sand obligations  broken,  a  thousand  enormities  committed ; 
that  blood  is  the  cry  of  a  thousand  consciences,  which  de- 
mand, from  their  entire  nature,  an  impossible  reparation, 
that  blood  is  the  solemn  and  terrible  acknowledgement  of 
the  truths  I  urge  upon  you.  And  would  you  form  an  idea 
of  this  need  of  expiation  ?  Know  then  that  the  impossibil- 
ity of  solving  the  problem,  the  anguish  of  turning  for  ever 


44  THE    RELIGIONS    OF    MAN, 

in  a  circle,  without  issue,  has  driven  man  to  a  kind  of  des- 
pair, a  despair  which  has  become  barbarous.  For  the  sake 
of  finding  a  worthy  victim,  man  has  recourse  to  man  him- 
self;—  human  blood  has  flowed  in  the  temples,  and  the 
torment  has  not  ceased ;  human  blood  has  effaced  nothing ! 
To  what  victim,  then,  should  man  resort?  To  a  God? 
But  how  should  such  a  thing  enter  into  the  heart  of  man  ? 
We  have  passed  in  review  all  the  systems  of  religion 
which  would  seem  possible  without  Christianity.  We 
think  we  have  presented  them  with  fidelity ;  we  have  done 
them  justice ;  we  have  taken  nothing  from  them.  We 
might  have  demanded  from  them  an  account  of  what  they 
owe  to  Christianity,  and  caused  them  to  do  honor  to  that 
holy  religion,  by  a  greater  part  of  what  they  possess  of 
what  is  specious,  good  and  interesting,  but  we  have  abstained 
from  that;  we  have  confined  ourselves,  without  further 
examination,  to  showing  you  the  strength  and  the  weak- 
ness of  these  systems.  You  are  now,  therefore,  in  a  condi- 
tion to  pronounce  judgment  upon  them.  So  far  as  it  relates 
to  us,  here  is  our  conclusion.  In  vain  has  man,  in  his 
search  for  the  supreme  good,  called  into  exercise  his  reason, 
his  imagination,  his  heart  and  his  conscience ;  in  vain  has 
he  laid  all  his  powers  under  contribution ;  in  vain  has  he 
done  all  that  it  is  possible  for  man  to  do ;  every  where  in 
his  systems  there  appear  chasms  wide  and  deep.  The  tri- 
ple object  of  all  religion,  to  enlighten,  console  and  regen- 
erate, is  fulfilled  neither  by  the  one  nor  the  other  of  these 
religions,  nor  by  all  of  them  together.  Is  the  religion  of 
the  imagination  the  subject  of  inquiry  ?  That  is  the  charm 
of  a  few  fugitive  moments ;  it  is  neither  the  light,  the  sup- 
port, nor  the  sanctification  of  the  soul.  Do  we  try  the  re- 
ligion of  thought?  Its  only  reasonable  pretension  is  to 
enlighten  ;  but  it  fulfils  it  so  badly,  that  it  does  nothing 
more  than  deepen  the  gloom  which  rests  on  religion.  Do 
we  address  ourselves  to  the  religion  of  sentiment  ?  It 


AND    THE    RELIGION    OF    GOD.  45 

moves  the  surface  of  the  soul ;  it  does  not  reach  its  depths, 
it  does  not  regenerate  it.  In  fine,  the  best  of  all  these  reli- 
gions, that  of  conscience,  by  its  very  excellence,  demon- 
strates the  impotence  of  man  to  form  a  religion  for  himself. 
It  can  only  show  us  the  chasm  which  sin  has  made  be- 
tween us  and  God  ;  but  it  cannot  fill  it  up.  It  teaches  us, 
that  in  order  to  be  united  to  God,  two  things  are  necessary, 
which  it  does  not  give  us,  and  which  none  of  our  faculties 
can  give  us,  —  PARDON  and  REGENERATION.  The  man 
who  pretends  to  accomplish,  by  his  own  power,  the  work  of 
his  salvation,  must  first  pardon,  and  then  regenerate  him- 
self. It  is  necessary  he  should  efface  the  very  last  vestige 
of  all  his  former  sins,  that  is  to  say,  that  he  should  do  what 
cannot  be  done.  It  is  moreover  necessary,  that,  declaring 
war  with  his  nature,  he  should  force  it  to  love  God,  to  love 
the  good,  to  hate  the  evil ;  that  he  should  renew  his  incli- 
nations from  their  foundation ;  in  a  word,  that  he  should 
destroy  the  old  man,  and  create  in  himself  the  new.  To 
ask  you,  if  you  can  do  such  things,  is  to  ask,  if  a  criminal, 
alone  in  the  bottom  of  his  dungeon,  can  provide  his  own 
letters  of  pardon,  or  a  combatant,  chained  hand  and  foot, 
can  promise  himself  the  victory.  It  is  to  ask  you,  if  you 
can  do  that  to-morrow,  which  you  cannot  do  to-day  ;  it  is  to 
ask  you,  if  it  will  ever  be  possible,  with  the  powers  of  your 
nature  alone,  to  re-make  that  nature. 

Nevertheless,  there  is  not  without  this,  a  religion  com- 
plete and  satisfying.  —  say  rather  there  is  no  religion  at 
all.  And  without  this,  you  have  reason  to  believe  your- 
selves abandoned  by  God.  Ah,  why  should  you  not  turn 
your  attention  to  that  gospel,  which  seems  to  have  divined 
all  the  secrets  of  your  nature,  and  which  meets  all  the 
wants  of  your  soul !  Why  should  not  the  view  of  the 
cross,  where  your  pardon  is  written,  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  source  of  REGENERATION,  cause  you  to  leap  for 
joy  !  Why  should  you  not  with  ardor,  desire  that  the  doc- 
4* 


46  THE    RELIGIONS    OF   MAN, 

trine  which  remedies  all,  harmonizes  all,  satisfies  all,  should 
be  as  true  as  it  is  beautiful  !  Why  can  you  give  your- 
selves a  moment's  repose,  before  you  enlighten  your  minds 
respecting  it,  by  all  the  means  in  your  power  ?  If  such  a 
religion  has  not  been  given  to  man,  he  must  die  ;  yes,  die 
of  grief  for  having  been  condemned  to  live,  —  die  of  grief 
for  having  been  formed  with  insatiable  desires  after  perfec- 
tion, with  an  ardent  thirst  for  God,  and  to  feel  that  these 
desires,  and  this  thirst,  are  only  a  cruel  deception,  a  fatal 
mockery  of  the  unknown  power  that  created  us  ! 

But  shall  I  hear  from  Christians,  not  the  joyous  accents 
of  souls  convinced,  but  the  anxious  appeals  of  hearts  that 
are  doubting  still  ?  No  !  let  us  together  hail  with  our  ben- 
edictions, that  religion,  alone  complete,  which  responds  to 
all  the  wants  of  man,  in  offering  to  each  of  his  faculties  an 
inexhaustible  aliment ;  a  religion  of  the  imagination,  to 
which  it  offers  magnificent  prospects ;  a  religion  of  the 
heart,  which  it  softens  by  the  exhibition  of  a  love  above  all 
love ;  a  religion  of  thought,  which  it  attaches  to  the  contem- 
plation of  a  system,  the  most  vast  and  harmonious ;  a  reli- 
gion of  the  conscience,  which  it  renders  at  once  more  del- 
icate and  tranquil ;  but  above  all,  a  religion  of  the  grace 
and  love  of  God ;  for  it  is  necessarily  all  these  combined. 
Why  should  not  the  truth  entire,  satisfy  man  entire  ?  Let 
us  hail,  with  admiration,  that  religion  which  reconciles  all 
these  contrasts,  a  religion  of  justice  and  grace,  of  fear  and 
love,  of  obedience  and  liberty,  of  activity  and  repose,  of 
faith  and  reason ;  for  if  error  has  cut  up  and  divided  every 
thing  in  man,  if  it  has  made  of  his  soul  a  vast  scene  of 
contradictions,  truth  brings  back  all  into  unity.  Such  is 
the  religion  which  never  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  even 
in  the  highest  culture  of  his  moral  sense,  and  the  most  ex- 
tensive development  of  his  intelligence  ;  or,  as  the  apostle 
expresses  it,  "  which  none  of  the  princes  of  this  world  have 
known." 


AND   THE    RELIGION    OF    GOD.  47 

That  which  remained  concealed  from  philosophers  and 
sages,  in  the  most  brilliant  periods  of  the  human  intellect, 
twelve  poor  fishermen,  from  the  lakes  of  Judea,  quitted 
their  nets  to  announce  to  the  world.  Certainly  they  had 
not  more  of  imagination,  of  reason,  of  heart,  or  of  con- 
science, than  the  rest  of  mankind ;  yet  they  put  to  silence 
the  wisdom  of  sages,  emptied  the  schools  of  philosophers, 
closed  the  gates  of  every  temple,  extinguished  the  fire  on 
every  altar.  They  exhibited  to  the  world  their  crucified 
Master,  and  the  world  recognized  in  him  that  which  their 
anxious  craving  had  sought  in  vain  for  three  thousand 
years.  A  new  morality,  new  social  relations,  and  a  new 
universe  sprung  into  being,  at  the  voice  of  these  poor  peo- 
ple, ignorant  of  letters,  and  of  all  philosophy.  It  remains 
with  your  good  sense  to  judge,  if  these  twelve  fishermen 
have  used  their  own  wisdom,  or  the  wisdom  which  cometh 
from  above. 

We  stop  at  this  point,  — man  is  found  incapable  of  form- 
ing a  religion,  and  God  has  come  to  the  aid  of  his  weak- 
ness. Bless,  then,  your  God,  from  the  bottom  of  your  heart, 
you,  who  after  long  search,  have,  at  last,  found  an  asylum. 
And  you  who  still  float  on  the  vast  sea  of  human  opinions, 
you  who,  violently  driven  from  one  system  to  another,  feel 
your  anguish  increasing,  and  your  heart  becoming  more 
and  more  tarnished ;  you  who  to  this  day  have  never  been 
able  to  live  with  God,  nor  without  God,  —  come  and  see, 
if  this  gospel,  scarcely  noticed  by  your  heedless  eyes,  is  not 
perhaps  that,  for  which  you  call  with  so  many  fruitless 
sighs.  And,  thou,  God  of  the  gospel !  God  of  nations ! 
Infinite  Love !  reveal  thyself  to  wounded  hearts,  make  thy- 
self known  to  fainting  spirits,  and  cause  them  to  know  joy, 
peace  and  true  virtue. 


II. 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

"  Things  which,  have  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man." — 1  COB.  2  i  9. 

WE  have  seen  that  we  are  not  in  a  condition  to  give 
ourselves  a  religion,  and  that  God,  in  his  goodness,  has 
condescended  to  aid  our  weakness.  But  the  reason  of  man 
does  not  voluntarily  permit  itself  to  be  convinced  of  impo- 
tence ;  it  does  not  willingly  suffer  its  limits  to  be  prescribed ; 
it  is  strongly  tempted  to  reject  ideas  which  it  has  not  con- 
ceived, a  religion  which  it  has  not  invented ;  and  if  the 
doctrines  proposed  to  it  are,  in  their  nature,  mysterious  and 
incomprehensible,  this  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  proceeds  to 
open  revolt,  and  in  the  case  of  many,  results  in  an  obstinate 
skepticism. 

I  do  not  comprehend,  therefore  I  do  not  believe ;  the 
gospel  is  full  of  mysteries,  therefore  I  do  not  receive  the 
gospel ; — such  is  one  of  the  favorite  arguments  of  infidelity. 
To  see  how  much  is  made  of  this,  and  what  confidence  it 
inspires,  we  might  believe  it  solid,  or,  at  least,  specious ; 
but  it  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other ;  it  will  not  bear  the 
slightest  attention,  the  most  superficial  examination  of 
reason;  and  if  it  still  enjoys  some  favor  in  the  world,  this 
is  but  a  proof  of  the  lightness  of  our  judgments  upon  things 
worthy  of  our  most  serious  attention. 


THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  49 

Upon  what,  in  fact,  does  this  argument  rest  ?  Upon  the 
claim  of  comprehending  every  thing  in  the  religion  which 
God  has  offered  or  could  offer  us.  A  claim  equally  unjust, 
unreasonable,  useless.  This  we  proceed  to  develop. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  an  unjust  claim.  It  is  to  demand 
of  God  what  he  does  not  owe  us.  To  prove  this,  let  us 
suppose  that  God  has  given  a  religion  to  man,  and  let  us 
further  suppose  this  religion  to  be  the  gospel ;  for  this  abso- 
lutely charges  nothing  to  the  argument.  We  may  believe 
that  God  was  free,  at  least,  with  reference  to  us,  to  give  us 
or  not  to  give  us  a  religion ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that 
in  granting  it,  he  contracts  engagements  to  us,  and  that  the 
first  favor  lays  him  under  a  necessity  of  conferring  other 
favors.  For  this  is  merely  to  say,  that  God  must  be  con- 
sistent, and  that  he  finishes  what  he  has  begun.  Since  it  is 
by  a  written  revelation  he  manifests  his  designs  respecting 
us,  it  is  necessary  he  should  fortify  that  revelation  by  all 
the  authority  which  would  at  least  determine  us  to  receive 
it ;  it  is  necessary  he  should  give  us  the  means  of  judging 
whether  the  men  who  speak  to  us  in  his  name  are  really 
sent  by  him ;  in  a  word,  it  is  necessary  we  should  be  as- 
sured that  the  Bible  is  truly  the  word  of  God. 

It  would  not  indeed  be  necessary  that  the  conviction  of 
each  of  us  should  be  gained  by  the  same  kind  of  evidence. 
Some  shall  be  led  to  Christianity  by  the  historical  or  exter- 
nal arguments  ;  they  shall  prove  to  themselves  the  truth  of 
the  Bible,  as  the  truth  of  all  history  is  proved ;  they  shall 
satisfy  themselves  that  the  books  of  which  it  is  composed 
are  certainly  those  of  the  times  and  of  the  authors  to  which 
they  are  ascribed.  This  settled,  they  shall  compare  the 
prophecies  contained  in  these  ancient  documents  with  the 
events  that  have  happened  in  subsequent  ages  ;  they  shall 
assure  themselves  of  the  reality  of  the  miraculous  facts 
related  in  these  books,  and  shall  thence  infer  the  necessary 
intervention  of  Divine  power,  which  alone  disposes  the 


50  THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

forces  of  nature,  and  can  alone  interrupt  or  modify  their 
action.  Others,  less  fitted  for  such  investigations,  shall  be 
struck  with  the  internal  evidence  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Finding  there  the  state  of  their  souls  perfectly  described, 
their  wants  fully  expressed,  and  the  true  remedies  for  their 
maladies  completely  indicated ;  struck  with  a  character  of 
truth  and  candor  which  nothing  can  imitate  ;  in  fine,  feeling 
themselves,  in  their  inner  nature,  moved,  changed,  reno- 
vated, by  the  mysterious  influence  of  these  holy  writings, 
they  shall  acquire,  by  such  means,  a  conviction  of  which 
they  cannot  always  give  an  account  to  others,  but  which  is 
not  the  less  legitimate,  irresistible  and  immovable.  Such 
is  the  double  road  by  which  an  entrance  is  gained  into  the 
asylum  of  faith.  But  it  was  due  from  the  wisdom  of  God, 
from  his  justice,  and,  we  venture  to  say  it,  from  the  honor 
of  his  government,  that  he  should  open  to  man  this  double 
road ;  for  if  he  desired  man  to  be  saved  by  knowledge,  on 
the  same  principle,  he  engaged  himself  to  furnish  him  the 
means  of  knowledge. 

Behold,  whence  come  the  obligations  of  the  Deity  with 
reference  to  us, — which  obligations  he  has  fulfilled.  Enter 
on  this  double  method  of  proof.  Interrogate  history,  time 
and  places,  respecting  the  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures ; 
grasp  all  the  difficulties,  sound  all  the  objections  ;  do  not 
permit  yourselves  to  be  too  easily  convinced;  be  the  more 
severe  upon  that  book,  as  it  professes  to  contain  the  sove- 
reign rule  of  your  life,  and  the  disposal  of  your  destiny ;  you 
are  permitted  to  do  this,  nay,  you  are  encouraged  to  do  it, 
provided  you  proceed  to  the  investigation  with  the  requisite 
capacities  and  with  pure  intentions.  Or,  if  you  prefer 
another  method,  examine,  with  an  honest  heart,  the  contents 
of  the  Scriptures ;  inquire,  while  you  run  over  the  words 
of  Jesus,  if  ever  man  spake  like  this  man ;  inquire,  if  the 
wants  of  your  soul,  long  deceived,  and  the  anxieties  of  your 
spirit,  long  cherished  in  vain,  do  not,  in  the  teaching  and 


THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  51 

work  of  Christ,  find  that  satisfaction  and  repose  which  no 
wisdom  was  ever  able  to  procure  you ;  breathe,  if  I  may 
thus  express  myself,  that  perfume  of  truth,  of  candor  and 
purity  which  exhales  from  every  page  of  the  gospel ;  see, 
if,  in  all  these  respects,  it  does  not  bear  the  undeniable  seal 
of  inspiration  and  divinity.  Finally,  test  it,  and  if  the  gos- 
pel produces  upon  you  a  contrary  effect,  return  to  the  books 
and  the  wisdom  of  men,  and  ask  of  them  what  Christ  has 
not  been  able  to  give  you.  But  if,  neglecting  these  two 
ways,  made  accessible  to  you,  and  trodden  by  the  feet  of 
ages,  you  desire,  before  all,  that  the  Christian  religion 
should,  in  every  point,  render  itself  comprehensible  to  your 
mind,  and  complacently  strip  itself  of  all  its  mysteries ;  if 
you  wish  to  penetrate  beyond  the  veil,  to  find  there,  not  the 
aliment  which  gives  life  to  the  soul,  but  that  which  would 
gratify  your  restless  curiosity,  I  maintain  that  you  raise 
against  God  a  claim  the  most  indiscreet,  the  most  rash  and 
unjust ;  for  he  has  never  engaged,  either  tacitly  or  expressly, 
to  discover  to  you  the  secret  which  your  eye  craves  ;  and 
such  audacious  importunity  is  fit  only  to  excite  his  indigna- 
tion. He  has  given  you  what  he  owed  you,  more  indeed 
than  he  owed  you ; — the  rest  is  with  himself. 

If  a  claim  so  unjust  could  be  admitted,  where,  I  ask  you, 
would  be  the  limit  of  your  demands  ?  Already  you  require 
more  from  God  than  he  has  accorded  to  angels ;  for  these 
eternal  mysteries  which  trouble  you, — the  harmony  of  the 
divine  prescience  with  human  freedom, — the  origin  of  evil 
and  its  ineffable  remedy, — the  incarnation  of  the  eternal 
WORD, — the  relations  of  the  God-man  with  his  Father, — 
the  atoning  virtue  of  his  sacrifice, — the  regenerating  efficacy 
of  the  Spirit-comforter, — all  these  things  are  secrets,  the 
knowledge  of  which  is  hidden  from  angels  themselves,  who, 
according  to  the  word  of  the  apostle,  stoop  to  explore  their 
depths,  and  cannot.  If  you  reproach  the  Eternal  for  having 
kept  the  knowledge  of  these  divine  mysteries  to  himself, 


52  THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

why  do  you  not  reproach  him  for  the  thousand  other  limits 
he  has  prescribed  to  you  ?  Why  not  reproach  him  for  not 
having  given  you  wings,  like  a  bird,  to  visit  the  regions 
which  till  now  have  been  scanned  only  by  your  eyes  ? 
Why  not  reproach  him  for  not  giving  you,  besides  the  five 
senses  with  which  you  are  provided,  ten  other  senses  which 
he  has  perhaps  granted  to  other  creatures,  and  which  pro- 
cure for  them  perceptions  of  which  you  have  no  idea  ? 
Why  not,  in  fine,  reproach  him,  for  having  caused  the 
darkness  of  night  to  succeed  the  brightness  of  day  invaria- 
bly on  the  earth  ?  Ah !  you  do  not  reproach  him  for  that. 
You  love  that  night  which  brings  rest  to  so  many  fatigued 
bodies  and  weary  spirits ;  which  suspends,  in  so  many 
wretches,  the  feeling  of  grief; — that  night,  during  which 
orphans,  slaves  and  criminals  cease  to  be,  because  over  all 
their  misfortunes  and  sufferings,  it  spreads,  with  the  opiate 
of  sleep,  the  thick  veil  of  oblivion ;  you  love  that  night, 
which,  peopling  the  deserts  of  the  heavens  with  ten  thou- 
sand stars,  not  known  to  the  day,  reveals  the  infinite  to  our 
ravished  imagination.  Well,  then,  why  do  you  not,  for  a 
similar  reason,  love  the  night  of  divine  mysteries, — night, 
gracious  and  salutary,  in  which  reason  humbles  itself,  and 
finds  refreshment  and  repose ;  where  the  darkness  even  is 
a  revelation  ;  where  one  of  the  principal  attributes  of  God, 
immensity,  discovers  itself  much  more  fully  to  our  mind ; 
where,  in  fine,  the  tender  relations  he  has  permitted  us  to 
form  with  himself,  are  guarded  from  all  admixture  of  famil- 
iarity, by  the  thought,  that  the  Being  who  has  humbled 
himself  to  us,  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  inconceivable  God 
who  reigns  before  all  time,  who  includes  in  himself  all 
existences  and  all  conditions  of  existence, — the  centre  of 
all  thought,  the  law  of  all  law,  the  supreme  and  final  reason 
of  every  thing!  So  that,  if  you  are  just,  instead  of  re- 
proaching him  for  the  secrets  of  religion,  you  will  bless  him 
that  he  has  enveloped  you  in  mysteries. 


THE    MYSTERIES    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  53 

But  this  claim  is  not  only  unjust  towards  God;  it  is  also 
in  itself  exceedingly  unreasonable. 

What  is  religion  ?  It  is  God  putting  himself  in  commu- 
nication with  man ;  the  Creator  with  the  creature,  the 
infinite  with  the  finite.  There  already,  without  going 
further,  is  a  mystery  ;  a  mystery  common  to  all  religions, 
impenetrable  in  all  religions.  If,  then,  every  thing  which, 
is  a  mystery  offends  you,  you  are  arrested  on  the  threshold, 
I  will  not  say,  of  Christianity,  but  of  every  religion ;  I  say, 
even  of  that  religion  which  is  called  natural,  because  it 
rejects  revelation  and  miracles ;  for  it  necessarily  implies, 
at  the  very  least,  a  connection,  a  communication  of  some 
sort  between  God  and  man, — the  contrary  being  equivalent 
to  atheism.  Your  claim  prevents  you  from  having  any 
belief;  and  because  you  have  not  been  willing  to  be  Chris- 
tians, it  will  not  be  allowed  you  to  be  deists. 

"  It  is  of  no  consequence,"  you  say,  "  we  pass  over  that 
difficulty;  we  suppose  between  God  and  us  connections  we 
cannot  conceive ;  we  admit  them  because  they  are  neces- 
sary to  us.  Bat  this  is  the  only  step  we  are  willing  to 
take ;  we  have  already  yielded  too  much  to  yield  more." 
Say  more, — say  you  have  granted  too  much  not  to  grant 
much  more,  not  to  grant  all !  You  have  consented  to 
admit,  without  comprehending  it,  that  there  may  be  com- 
munications from  God  to  you,  and  from  you  to  God.  But 
consider  well  what  is  implied  in  such  a  supposition.  It 
implies  that  you  are  dependent,  and  yet  free, — this  you  do 
not  comprehend ; — it  implies  that  the  Spirit  of  God  can 
make  itself  understood  by  your  spirit, — this  you  do  not 
comprehend  ; — it  implies  that  your  prayers  may  exert  an 
influence  on  the  will  of  God, — this  you  do  not  comprehend. 
It  is  necessary  you  should  swallow  all  these  mysteries,  in 
order  to  establish  with  God  connections  the  most  vague  and 
superficial,  and  by  the  very  side  of  which  atheism  is  placed. 
5 


54  THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

And  when,  by  a  powerful  effort  with  yourselves,  you  have 
done  so  much  as  to  admit  these  mysteries,  you  recoil  from 
those  of  Christianity!  You  have  accepted  the  foundation, 
and  refuse  the  superstructure  !  You  have  accepted  the 
principle,  and  refuse  the  details !  You  are  right,  no  doubt, 
so  soon  as  it  is  proved  to  you  that  the  religion  which  con- 
tains these  mysteries  does  not  come  from  God  ;  or  rather, 
that  these  mysteries  contain  contradictory  ideas.  But  you 
are  not  justified  in  denying  them,  for  the  sole  reason  that 
you  do  not  understand  them  ;  and  the  reception  you  have 
given  to  the  first  kind  of  mysteries,  compels  you,  by  the 
same  rule,  to  receive  the  others. 

This  is  not  all.  Not  only  are  mysteries  an  inseparable 
part,  nay,  the  very  substance  of  all  religion  ;  but  it  is  abso- 
lutely impossible  that  a  true  religion  should  not  present  a 
great  number  of  mysteries.  If  it  is  true,  it  ought  to  teach 
more  truths  respecting  God  and  divine  things,  than  any 
other,  than  all  others  together ;  but  each  of  these  truths  has 
a  relation  to  the  infinite,  and  by  consequence,  borders  on  a 
mystery.  How  should  it  be  otherwise  in  religion,  when 
it  is  thus  in  nature  itself?  Behold  God  in  nature  !  The 
more  he  gives  us  to  contemplate,  the  more  he  gives  to 
astonish.  To  each  creature  is  attached  some  mystery. 
Each  grain  of  sand  is  an  abyss  !  Now,  if  the  manifesta- 
tion which  God  has  made  of  himself  in  nature  suggests  to 
the  observer  a  thousand  questions  which  cannot  be  answered, 
how  will  it  be,  when  to  that  first  revelation,  another  is 
added ;  when  God  the  Creator  and  Preserver  reveals  him- 
self under  new  aspects  as  God  the  Reconciler  and  Saviour  ? 
Shall  not  mysteries  multiply  with  discoveries  ?  With  each 
new  day  shall  we  not  see  associated  a  new  night?  And 
shall  we  not  purchase  each  increase  of  knowledge  with  an 
increase  of  ignorance  ?  Has  not  the  doctrine  of  grace,  so 
necessary,  so  consoling,  alone  opened  a  profound  abyss, 


THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  55 

into  which,  for  eighteen  centuries,  rash  and  restless  spirits 
have  been  constantly  plunging  ? 

It  is,  then,  clearly  necessary  that  Christianity  should,  more 
than  any  other  religion,  be  mysterious,  simply  because  it  is 
true.  Like  mountains,  which,  the  higher  they  are,  cast  the 
larger  shadows,  the  gospel  is  the  more  obscure  and  myste- 
rious on  account  of  its  sublimity.  After  this,  will  you  be 
indignant  that  you  do  not  comprehend  every  thing  in  the 
gospel  ?  It  would,  forsooth,  be  a  truly  surprising  thing,  if 
the  ocean  could  not  be  held  in  the  hollow  of  your  hand,  or 
uncreated  wisdom  within  the  limits  of  your  intelligence  ! 
It  would  be  truly  unfortunate,  if  a  finite  being  could  not 
embrace  the  infinite,  and  that,  in  the  vast  assemblage  of 
things,  there  should  be  some  idea  beyond  its  grasp !  In 
other  words,  it  would  be  truly  unfortunate,  if  God  himself 
should  know  something  which  man  does  not  know ! 

Let  us  acknowledge,  then,  how  insensate  is  such  a  claim 
when  it  is  made  with  reference  to  religion. 

But  let  us  also  recollect  how  much,  in  making  such  a 
claim,  we  shall  be  in  opposition  to  ourselves ;  for  the  sub- 
mission we  dislike  in  religion,  we  cherish  in  a  thousand 
other  things.  It  happens  to  us  every  day  to  admit  things 
we  do  not  understand ;  and  to  do  so  without  the  least 
repugnance.  The  things,  the  knowledge  of  which  is  refused 
us,  are  much  more  numerous  than  we  perhaps  think.  Few 
diamonds  are  perfectly  pure;  still  fewer  truths  are  perfectly 
clear.  The  union  of  our  soul  with  our  body  is  a  mystery ; 
our  most  familiar  emotions  and  affections  are  a  mystery ; 
the  action  of  thought  and  will  is  a  mystery ;  our  very  exist- 
ence is  a  mystery.  Why  do  we  admit  all  these  various 
facts  ?  Is  it  because  we  understand  them  ?  No,  certain- 
ly,— but  because  they  are  self-evident,  and  because  they 
are  truths  by  which  we  live.  In  religion,  we  have  no  other 
course  to  take.  We  ought  to  know  whether  it  is  true  and 
necessary;  and  once  convinced  of  these  two  points,  we 


56  THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

ought,  like  the  angels,  to  submit  to  the  necessity  of  being 
ignorant  of  some  things. 

And  why  do  we  not  submit  cheerfully  to  a  privation, 
which  after  all  is  not  one  ?  To  desire  the  knowledge  of 
mysteries  is  to  desire  what  is  utterly  useless  ;  it  is  to  raise, 
as  I  have  said  before,  a  claim  the  most  vain  and  idle. 
What,  in  reference  to  us,  is  the  object  of  the  gospel  ?  Evi- 
dently to  regenerate  and  save  us.  But  it  attains  this  end 
entirely  by  the  things  it  reveals.  Of  what  use  would  it  be 
to  know  those  it  conceals  from  us  ?  We  possess  the  knowl- 
edge which  can  enlighten  our  consciences,  rectify  our 
inclinations,  renew  our  hearts ;  what  should  we  gain,  if  we 
possessed  other  knowledge  ?  It  infinitely  concerns  us  to 
know  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God ;  does  it  equally 
concern  us  to  know  in  what  way  the  holy  men  that  wrote 
it  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  It  is  of  infinite  moment 
to  us  to  know  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God ;  need  we 
know  precisely  in  what  way  the  divine  and  human  natures 
are  united  in  his  adorable  person  ?  It  is  of  infinite  impor- 
tance for  us  to  know  that  unless  we  are  born  again  we 
cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  author  of  that  new  birth ; — shall  we  be  further 
advanced,  if  we  know  the  divine  process  by  which  that 
wonder  is  performed  ?  Is  it  not  enough  for  us  to  know  the 
truths  that  save  ?  Of  what  use,  then,  would  it  be  to  know 
those  which  have  not  the  slightest  bearing  on  our  salva- 
tion ?  "  Though  I  know  all  mysteries,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing."  St.  Paul  was  con- 
tent not  to  know,  provided  he  had  charity ;  shall  not  we, 
following  his  example,  be  content  also  without  knowledge, 
provided  that,  like  him,  we  have  charity,  that  is  to  say, 
life? 

But  some  one  will  say,  If  the  knowledge  of  mysteries  is 
really  without  influence  on  our  salvation,  why  have  they 
been  indicated  to  us  at  all  ?  What  if  it  should  be  to  teach 


THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  57 

us  not  to  be  too  prodigal  of  our  wherefores!  if  it  should  be 
to  serve  as  an  exercise  of  our  faith,  a  test  of  our  submission ! 
But  we  will  not  stop  with  such  a  reply. 

Observe,  I  pray  you,  in  what  manner  the  mysteries  of 
which  you  complain  have  taken  their  part  in  religion. 
You  readily  perceive  they  are  not  by  themselves,  but 
associated  with  truths  which  have  a  direct  bearing  on  your 
salvation.  They  contain  them,  they  serve  to  envelop 
them ;  but  they  are  not  themselves  the  truths  that  save. 
It  is  with  these  mysteries  as  it  is  with  the  vessel  which 
contains  a  medicinal  draught;  it  is  not  the  vessel  that 
cures,  but  the  draught;  yet  the  draught  could  not  be 
presented  without  the  vessel.  Thus  each  truth  that  saves 
is  contained  in  a  mystery,  which,  in  itself,  has  no  power  to 
save.  So  the  great  work  of  expiation  is  necessarily 
attached  to  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  is  a 
mystery ;  so  the  sanctifying  graces  of  the  new  covenant 
are  necessarily  connected  with  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  is  a  mystery;  so,  too,  the  divinity  of  religion 
finds  a  seal  and  an  attestation  in  the  miracles,  which  are 
mysteries.  Every  where  the  light  is  born  from  darkness, 
and  darkness  accompanies  the  light.  These  two  orders  of 
truths  are  so  united,  so  interlinked,  that  you  cannot  remove 
the  one  without  the  other;  and  each  of  the  mysteries  you 
attempt  to  tear  from  religion,  would  carry  with  it  one  of 
the  truths  which  bear  directly  on  your  regeneration  and 
salvation.  Accept  the  mysteries,  then,  not  as  truths  that 
can  save  you,  but  as  the  necessary  conditions  of  the  merci- 
ful work  of  the  Lord  in  your  behalf. 

The  true  point  at  issue  in  reference  to  religion  is  this: — 
Does  the  religion  which  is  proposed  to  us,  change  the 
heart,  unite  to  God,  prepare  for  heaven?  If  Christianity 
produces  these  effects,  we  will  leave  the  enemies  of  the 
cross  free  to  revolt  against  its  mysteries,  and  tax  them 
with  absurdity.  The  gospel,  we  will  say  to  them,  is  then 
5* 


58  THE    MYSTERIES    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

an  absurdity ;  you  have  discovered  it.  But  behold  what  a 
new  species  of  absurdity  that  certainly  is,  which  attaches 
man  to  all  his  duties,  regulates  human  life  better  than  all 
the  doctrines  of  sages,  plants  in  his  bosom  harmony,  order 
and  peace,  causes  him  joyfully  to  fulfil  all  the  offices  of 
civil  life,  renders  him  better  fitted  to  live,  better  fitted  to 
die,  and  which,  were  it  generally  received,  would  be  the 
support  and  safeguard  of  society !  Cite  to  us,  among  all 
human  absurdities,  a  single  one  which  produces  such 
effects.  If  that  "  foolishness  "  we  preach  produces  effects 
like  these,  is  it  not  natural  to  conclude  that  it  is  truth  itself? 
And  if  these  things  have  not  entered  the  heart  of  man,  it  is 
not  because  they  are  absurd,  but  because  they  are  divine. 

Make,  my  readers,  but  a  single  reflection.  You  are 
obliged  to  confess  that  none  of  the  religions  which  man 
may  invent  can  satisfy  his  wants,  or  save  his  soul. 
Thereupon  you  have  a  choice  to  make.  You  will  either 
reject  them  all  as  insufficient  and  false,  and  seek  for  nothing 
better,  since  man  cannot  invent  better,  and  then  you  will 
abandon  to  chance,  to  caprice  of  temperament  or  of  opinion, 
your  moral  life  and  future  destiny;  or  you  will  adopt  that 
other  religion  which  some  treat  as  folly,  and  it  will  render 
you  holy  and  pure,  blameless  in  the  midst  of  a  perverse 
generation,  united  to  God  by  love,  and  to  your  brethren  by 
charity,  indefatigable  in  doing  good,  happy  in  life,  happy 
in  death.  Suppose,  after  all  this,  you  shall  be  told  that 
this  religion  is  false;  but,  meanwhile,  it  has  restored 
in  you  the  image  of  God,  re-established  your  primitive 
connections  with  that  great  Being,  and  put  you  in  a 
condition  to  enjoy  life  and  the  happiness  of  heaven.  By 
means  of  it  you  have  become  such  that  at  the  last  day,  it 
is  impossible  that  God  should  not  receive  you  as  his 
children,  and  make  you  partakers  of  his  glory.  You  are 
made  fit  for  paradise,  nay,  paradise  has  commenced  for 
you  even  here,  because  you  love.  This  religion  has  done 


THE    MYSTERIES    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  59 

for  you  what  all  religion  proposes,  and  what  no  other  has 
realized.  Nevertheless,  by  the  supposition,  it  is  false ! 
And  what  more  could  it  do,  were  it  true  ?  Rather  do  you 
not  see  that  this  is  a  splendid  proof  of  its  truth  ?  Do  you 
not  see  that  it  is  impossible  that  a  religion  which  leads  to 
God  should  not  come  from  God,  and  that  the  absurdity  is 
precisely  that  of  supposing  that  you  can  be  regenerated  by 
a  falsehood. 

Suppose  that  afterwards,  as  at  the  first,  you  do  not 
comprehend.  It  is  apparently  necessary  you  should  be 
saved  by  the  things  you  do  not  comprehend.  Is  that  a 
misfortune?  Are  you  the  less  saved?  Does  it  become 
you  to  demand  from  God  an  account  of  an  obscurity  which 
does  not  injure  you,  when,  with  reference  to  every  thing 
essential,  he  has  been  prodigal  of  light?  The  first  disciples 
of  Jesus,  men  without  culture  and  learning,  received  truths 
they  did  not  comprehend,  and  spread  them  through  the 
world.  A  crowd  of  sages  and  men  of  genius  have 
received,  from  the  hands  of  these  poor  people,  truths 
which  they  comprehended  no  more  than  they.  The 
ignorance  of  the  one,  and  the  science  of  the  other,  have 
been  equally  docile.  Do,  then,  as  the  ignorant  and  the 
wise  have  done.  Embrace  with  affection  those  truths 
which  have  never  entered  into  your  heart,  and  which  will 
save  you.  Do  not  lose,  in  vain  discussions,  the  time 
which  is  gliding  away,  and  which  is  bearing  you  into  the 
cheering  or  appalling  light  of  eternity.  Hasten  to  be 
saved.  Love  now ;  one  day  you  will  know.  May  the 
Lord  Jesus  prepare  you  for  that  period  of  light,  of  repose, 
and  of  happiness ! 


III. 


THE  GOSPEL  COMPREHENDED  BY  THE  HEART. 

1 '  Things  -which  have  not  entered  into  tlie  heart  of  man,  but  'which. 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." — 1  COB.  2:9. 

GOD  has  destined  the  world  to  he,  not  only  the  theatre 
of  our  activity,  but  also  the  object  of  our  study.  He  has 
concealed  in  the  depths  of  nature  innumerable  secrets, 
which  he  invites  us  to  fathom ;  innumerable  truths,  which 
he  encourages  us  to  discover.  To  penetrate  these  secrets, 
to  discover  these  truths,  it  is  necessary  to  possess  certain 
intellectual  faculties,  and  to  have  them  suitably  exercised, 
but  nothing  more.  The  dispositions  of  the  heart  have  no 
direct  influence  on  the  acquisition  of  this  kind  of  knowl- 
edge. It  is  with  this  knowledge  as  it  is  with  "•  the  rain, 
which  God  causeth  to  fall  on  the  just  and  the  unjust,  and 
the  sun  which  he  maketh  to  shine  upon  the  good  and  the 
evil."  To  acquire  it  does  not  necessarily  suppose  a  pure 
heart  or  a  benevolent  character;  and,  unhappily,  it  is  too 
common  to  see  the  finest  gifts  of  genius  united  with  the 
most  deplorable  selfishness  and  the  deepest  depravity  of 
manners.  God  seems  to  have  prepared  the  truths  of 
human  science  indifferently  for  his  friends  and  enemies. 
It  is  not  thus  with  the  truths  of  religion.  God,  it  is  said, 
in  the  Scriptures,  "  hath  prepared  them  for  those  that  love 


THE    GOSPEL   COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART.  61 

him."  Not  that  he  has  excluded  from  the  possession  of 
them,  men  of  learning  and  genius;  but  neither  learning 
nor  genius  is  sufficient  here  as  in  the  other  sciences. 
Love  is  the  true  interpreter  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel. 
The  "  wisdom  of  this  world  and  of  the  princes  of  this 
world,"  is  vanquished  by  the  simplicity  of  love,  love 
and  wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect,  conformably  to 
that  declaration  of  St.  John,  "  He  that  loveth  God  is  born 
of  God  and  knoweth  God." 

That  which  is  often  seen  occurring  between  two  persons 
of  different  languages,  takes  place  between  God  and  man; 
it  is  necessary  that  a  person  versed  in  both  languages 
should  intervene  between  the  two  parties,  and  listening  to 
the  words  of  the  one,  put  them  within  reach  of  the  other, 
by  rendering  them  into  the  idiom  he  understands.  But 
between  God  and  man,  between  the  gospel  and  our  soul, 
that  interpreter  is  love.  Love  renders  intelligible  to  man 
the  truths  of  the  gospel, — not,  indeed,  those  abstract  truths 
which  relate  to  the  essence  of  God,  the  knowledge  of 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  equally  inaccessible  and  useless 
to  us, — but  those  other  truths,  which  concern  our  relations 
to  God,  and  constitute  the  very  foundation  of  religion. 
These  are  the  truths  which  escape  from  reason,  and  which 
love  seizes  without  difficulty. 

You  are  surprised,  perhaps,  to  see  rilled  by  love,  by  a 
sentiment  of  the  heart,  a  function  which  seems  to  you  to 
belong  only  to  reason.  But  please  to  reflect  that  the 
greater  part  of  our  knowledge  is  derived  to  us  immediately 
from  another  source  than  reason.  When  we  desire  to 
obtain  a  knowledge  of  a  natural  object,  it  is,  primarily,  our 
senses  we  make  use  of,  and  not  our  reason.  It  is  at  first 
by  sight  that  we  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  size  and  form 
of  bodies;  by  hearing,  that  of  sounds;  and  by  smell,  that 
of  odors.  It  is  necessary  that  reason  should  afterwards 
perform  a  part,  and  connect  its  operations  with  those  of  the 


62  THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART. 

organs ;  but  whatever  may  be  the  importance  of  its  inter- 
vention, we  must  admit  that  the  knowledge  of  sensible 
objects  and  their  properties  is  derived  essentially  from  the 
senses. 

Things  transpire  in  no  other  way  in  the  moral  world. 
It  is  not  by  the  intellect  alone,  nor  by  the  intellect  first, 
that  we  can  judge  of  things  of  this  order.  To  know  them 
we  must  have  a  sense  also,  which  is  called  the  moral 
sense.  The  intellect  may  come  in  afterwards  as  an  auxil- 
iary ;  it  observes,  compares  and  classes  our  impressions,  but 
it  does  not  produce  them;  and  it  would  be  as  little  reasona- 
ble to  pretend  that  we  owe  them  to  it,  as  to  affirm  that  it  is 
by  the  ear  we  obtain  the  knowledge  of  colors,  by  sight  that 
of  perfumes,  and  by  smell  that  of  sounds  and  harmonies. 
The  things  of  the  heart  are  not  truly  comprehended  but  by 
the  heart. 

Permit  us  to  dwell  a  moment  upon  this  idea;  for  we 
feel  the  necessity  of  explaining  it  thoroughly.  In  saying 
that  the  heart  comprehends,  do  we  say  that  it  becomes 
reason,  or  that  it  conducts  a  process  of  reasoning?  By  no 
means.  The  heart  does  riot  comprehend  like  the  reason; 
but  it  comprehends  as  well,  if  not  better.  As  to  the 
reason,  what  is  it  to  comprehend?  It  is  to  seize  the  thread 
of  logical  deduction,  the  chain  of  ideas  which  joins  together 
two  or  more  facts;  it  is  to  attain  conviction,  assurance,  by 
means  other  than  experience;  it  is  to  be  placed  by  the 
intellect  in  relative  connection  with  those  objects,  an 
immediate  contact  with  which  is  denied  us.  The  compre- 
hension of  the  mind,  to  speak  plainly,  is  nothing  more  than 
a  supplement  to  the  inevitable  chasms  in  our  experience.^ 


*The  word  experience  is  here  used  in  its  strictly  philosophical  sense. 
It  embraces  the  facts  of  sensation  and  consciousness,  the  emotions  and 
perceptions  of  the  mind.  These  constitute  an  assemblage  of  facts,  which 
it  is  the  province  of  reason  first  to  analyze,  and  then  combine,  under 
general  heads  or  systems  5  and  thus  supply  the  deficiencies  or  chasms  in 


THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART.  63 

These  chasms  occur  either  from  the  absence  of  the  objects 
themselves,  or  from  their  nature,  which  has  no  point  of 
contact  with  ours.  If  these  two  obstacles  did  not  exist,  or 
if  it  were  possible  to  remove  them,  man  would  have  nothing 
to  comprehend;  for  he  would  touch,  he  would  grasp,  he 
would  taste  every  thing.  Keason  in  him  would  be 
replaced  by  intuition.  Wherever  intuition  has  place,  there 
is  no  more  comprehension,  for  it  is  more  than  comprehen- 
sion ;  or  if  any  one  chooses  that  it  should  be  comprehen- 
sion, it  is  a  comprehension  of  a  new  nature,  of  a  superior 
order,  which  explains  every  thing  without  effort,  to  which 
every  thing  is  clear,  but  which  it  cannot  communicate,  by 
words,  to  the  reason  of  another. 

But  it  is  the  same  with  the  comprehension  of  the  heart. 
Doubtless  it  has  its  precise  limits.  It  extends  to  every 
thing  within  the  domain  of  sentiment,  but  to  nothing 
beyond.  Reason,  however,  has  its  limits,  also,  quite  as 
distinctly  marked,  and  can  no  more  overleap  them  than 
the  heart  those  which  belong  to  it.  Applied  to  things 
which  belong  exclusively  to  the  sphere  of  sentiment,  it 
wanders  in  obscurity;  it  passes  by  the  side  of  sentiment  as 
if  it  were  a  stranger;  it  neither  understands  nor  is  under- 
stood; and  retires  from  a  useless  struggle,  without  having 
either  taken  or  given  any  thing.  Reason  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  heart  on  the  other,  do  not  comprehend  each  other. 
They  have  no  mutual  agreement,  except  in  that  of  a 
disdainful  pity. 

To  render  this  truth  more  evident,  suppose,  on  the  one 
hand,  a  generous  man,  a  hero,  a  soul  ever  burning  with  the 


our  experience.  It  especially  perceives  and  classifies  relations,  and 
deduces  from  the  whole  those  general  ideas  which  embody,  in  their  com- 
prehensive range,  an  infinite  number  of  scattered,  but  related  facts. 
Reason,  therefore,  is  a  supplement  to  our  experience,  and  is  a  purely 
intellectual  process.  It  involves  no  feeling  or  affection,  and  may  exist,  in 
the  greatest  perfection,  without  a  single  holy  or  virtuous  impulse.  T. 


64  THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY    THE    HEART. 

lofty  flame  of  devotion ;  and  on  the  other,  a  man  of  quick 
intelligence,  of  reason  vast  and  profound,  but  deprived, 
were  it  possible,  of  all  sensibility,  do  you  not  believe 
that  the  first  would,  all  his  life  long,  be  an  enigma  to 
the  other  ?  How  indeed  could  the  latter  conceive  of  those 
transports  of  enthusiasm,  those  acts  of  self-denial,  and  those 
sublime  expressions,  the  source  of  which  never  existed  in 
his  own  soul  ?  "  The  spiritual  man,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"judgeth  all  things,  and  no  one  (unless  spiritual)  can 
judge  him."  Let  us,  by  supposition,  apply  this  expression, 
to  the  sensitive  and  generous  being  of  whom  we  speak ; 
no  one,  unless  he  has  the  germs  of  the  same  emotions,  can 
form  a  judgment  of  him ;  —  a  fact  distinctly  recognized  by 
those  who  have  said,  that  great  souls  pass  through  the 
world  without  being  understood. 

Affectation  !  hypocrisy !  is  the  cry  frequently  heard,  in 
view  of  certain  manifestations,  and  especially  of  religious 
manifestations.  An  ardor  which  glows  in  the  depths  of 
the  soul,  which  engrosses  all  the  faculties,  and  which  is 
incessantly  renewed  from  its  own  proper  source,  appears  to 
some  too  strange  to  be  credited.  In  order  to  believe  it, 
they  need  only  to  feel  it ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  unless  they 
do  feel  it,  they  cannot  conceive  of  it.  And  they  will  con- 
tinue to  tax  with  affectation  and  hypocrisy,  a  sentiment 
which  perhaps  restrains  itself,  and  discovers  only  half  of 
its  energy.  A  mistake,  how  natural !  All  the  efforts  of 
the  most  active  intellect  cannot  give  us  the  conception  of 
the  taste  of  a  fruit  we  have  never  tasted,  or  the  perfume  of 
a  flower  we  have  never  smelt,  much  less  of  an  affection 
we  have  never  felt. 

It  is  with  the  heights  of  the  soul,  as  it  is  with  the  sub- 
limities of  the  firmament.  When  on  a  serene  night,  mil- 
lions of  stars  sparkle  in  the  depths  of  the  sky,  the  gorgeous 
splendor  of  the  starry  vault  ravishes  every  one  that  has 
eyes ;  but  he  to  whom  Providence  has  denied  the  blessing  of 


THE    GOSPEL   COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART.  65 

sight,  would  in  vain  possess  a  mind  open  to  the  loftiest 
conceptions ;  in  vain  would  his  intellectual  capacity  trans- 
cend what  is  common  among  men.  All  that  intelligence, 
and  all  the  power  he  might  add  by  study  to  his  rare  gifts, 
will  not  aid  him  in  forming  a  single  idea  of  that  rav- 
ishing spectacle ;  while  at  his  side,  a  man,  without  tal- 
ent or  culture,  has  only  to  raise  his  eyes,  to  embrace  at  a 
glance,  and  in  some  measure  enjoy,  all  the  splendors  of 
the  firmament,  and,  through  his  vision,  to  receive  into  his 
soul  the  impressions  which  such  a  spectacle  cannot  fail  to 
produce. 

Another  sky,  and  one  as  magnificent  as  the  azure  vault 
stretched  over  our  heads,  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  gos- 
pel. Divine  truths  are  the  stars  of  that  mystic  sky, 
and  they  shine  in  it,  brighter  and  purer  than  the  stars  of 
the  firmament ;  but  there  must  be  an  eye  to  see  them,  and 
that  eye  is  love.  The  gospel  is  a  work  of  love.  Christian- 
ity is  only  love  realized  under  its  purest  form ;  and  since 
the  light  of  the  world  cannot  be  known  without  an  eye, 
love  cannot  be  comprehended  but  by  the  heart. 

You  may  have  exhausted  all  the  powers  of  your  reason, 
and  all  the  resources  of  your  knowledge,  to  establish  the 
authenticity  of  the  Scriptures  ;  you  may  have  perfectly  ex- 
plained the  apparent  contradictions  of  the  sacred  books ; 
you  may  have  grasped  the  connection  of  the  fundamental 
truths  of  the  gospel.  You  may  have  done  all  this,  yet  if 
you  do  not  love,  the  gospel  will  be  to  you  nothing  but  a 
dead  letter,  and  a  sealed  book ;  its  revelations  will  appear 
to  you  but  as  abstractions,  and  naked  ideas ;  its  system  but 
a  speculation  unique  in  its  kind  ;  nay,  more,  whatever  in 
the  gospel  is  most  attractive,  most  precious  and  sweet,  but 
an  arbitrary  conception,  a  strange  dogma,  a  painful  test 
of  your  faith,  and  nothing  more. 

But  let   love,  sweet,  gracious,  luminous,   interpreting, 


66  THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY    THE    HEART. 

come  between  the  gospel  and  the  human  soul,  and  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  shall  have  a  meaning,  —  and  one  as  clear 
as  it  is  profound.  Then  shall  your  soul  find  itself  free 
and  happy,  in  the  midst  of  these  strange  revelations.  Then 
shall  those  truths  you  have  accepted,  through  submission 
and  obedience,  become  to  you  as  familiar  and  as  necessarily 
true,  as  those  common  every-day  truths,  upon  which  de- 
pends your  existence.  Then  shall  you  penetrate,  without  an 
effort,  into  the  marvellous  system,  which  your  reason  dread- 
ed, so  to  speak,  to  see  too  near,  in  a  confused  apprehension 
of  being  tempted  to  infidelity.  Then  shall  you  probably  be 
astonished  that  you  had  never  perceived,  conjectured,  dis- 
covered it ;  that  previous  to  revelation,  you  had  never  found 
out  that  such  a  system  was  as  necessary  to  the  glory  of 
God,  as  to  the  happiness  of  man. 

So  long  as  man,  with  reason  alone,  has  climbed  up  Cal- 
vary, and  gone  around  the  cross,  he  has  seen  nothing  but 
darkness  in  the  divine  work  of  expiation.  For  whole  ages 
might  he  remain  in  contemplation  before  that  mysterious 
fact,  but  would  not  succeed  in  raising  from  it  the  veil. 
Ah  !  how  can  reason,  cold  reason,  comprehend  such  a  thing 
as  the  substitution  of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty ;  as  the 
compassion  which  reveals  itself  in  severity  of  punishment, 
in  that  shedding  of  blood,  without  which,  it  is  said,  there 
can  be  no  expiation.  It  will  not  make,  I  dare  affirm,  a 
single  step  towards  the  knowledge  of  that  divine  mystery, 
until  casting  away  its  ungrateful  speculations,  it  yields  to  a 
power  more  capable  the  task  of  terminating  the  difficulty. 
That  power  is  the  heart ;  which  fixes  itself  entirely  on  the 
love  that  shines  forth  in  the  work  of  redemption ;  cleaves 
without  distraction  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  adorable  victim ; 
lets  the  natural  impression  of  that  unparalleled  love  pene- 
trate freely,  and  develop  itself  gradually,  in  its  interior.  0 
how  quickly,  then,  are  the  veils  torn  away,  and  the  sha- 


THE    GOSPEL   COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART.  67 

dows  dissipated  for  ever !  How  little  difficulty  does  he  that 
loves  find  in  comprehending  love !  How  natural  to  him 
does  it  appear,  that  God,  infinite  in  all  things,  should  be 
infinite  also  in  his  compassion !  How  inconceivable  to 
him,  on  the  other  hand,  that  human  hearts  should  not  be 
capable  of  feeling  the  beauty  of  a  work,  without  which  God 
could  not  manifest  himself  entire  !  How  astonished  is  he 
at  the  blindness  of  those  who  read  and  re-read  the  Scrip- 
tures without  comprehending  the  central  truth  ;  who  pass 
and  re-pass  before  a  love  all  divine,  without  recognizing 
or  even  perceiving  a  work  all  divine  ! 

The  Holy  Scriptures  have  spoken  to  him  of  prayer,  as  a 
powerful  means  of  attracting  the  grace  of  God  ;  as  a  force 
to  which  divine  power  is  willing  to  submit,  and  which 
seems,  in  some  sense,  to  share  with  the  Deity  the  empire 
of  the  universe.  Before  such  an  idea  reason  remains  con- 
founded. There  is  no  objection  it  does  not  involuntarily 
raise  against  a  doctrine,  which,  after  all,  belongs  to  the  very 
essence  of  religion.  But  to  the  heart,  how  beautiful  is  this 
doctrine ;  how  natural,  how  probable,  how  necessary  !  How 
eagerly  the  heart  embraces  it !  How  it  hastens  to  put  it  in 
the  rank  of  its  most  cherished  convictions !  And  how 
wretchedly  and  foolishly  wise  do  those  appear  to  it,  who, 
feeling  on  the  one  hand,  that  religion  without  prayer  is 
not  religion,  and  on  the  other,  that  the  bearing  of  prayer 
upon  their  destinies  is  inexplicable,  resolve  to  remain  in 
uncertainty  on  the  subject,  waiting  and  not  praying  at  all ! 

It  is  the  same  with  many  other  mysteries  of  Christianity, 
or  rather  with  Christianity  as  a  whole.  Even  to  those 
who  receive  it  as  a  divine  religion,  and  believe  it  intellect- 
ually, it  is  veiled,  it  is  empty,  it  is  dead,  so  long  as  they  do 
not  call  the  heart  to  their  aid.  Among  sincere  believers, 
there  are  many  who  have  gone  around  Christianity,  a  reli- 
gion of  their  intellect,  as  around  an  impenetrable  sanctua- 
ry, knocking  in  turn  at  all  the  doors  of  that  asylum,  with- 


00  THE    GOSPEL   COMPREHENDED   BY    THE    HEART. 

out  finding  one  open,  and  returning  without  success  to  those 
already  tried  many  times,  believing  and  not  believing  at 
the  same  time,  Christians  by  their  wishes,  pagans  by  their 
hopes,  convinced  but  not  pursuaded,  enlightened  but  not 
consoled.  To  such  I  address  myself;  I  appeal  to  their  sin- 
cerity, and  ask  them,  Whence  comes  it  that  you  believe, 
and  as  yet  have  only  the  responsibilities,  not  the  blessings, 
of  faith  ?  How  happens  it,  that  you  carry  your  faith  as  a 
yoke  that  oppresses  and  weighs  you  down,  not  as  wings 
which  raise  you  above  your  miseries  and  the  world  ?  How 
comes  it,  that,  in  the  bosom  of  that  religion  you  have  ac- 
cepted, you  are  strangers,  exiles,  and  as  if  out  of  your  natural 
atmosphere  ?  How  is  it  that  you  are  not  at  home  in  your 
father's  house  ?  Let  us  put  the  finger  upon  the  wound. 
It  is  that  your  heart  is  not  yet  touched.  The  heart  of 
Lydia  must  be  opened,  before  she  can  understand  the  things 
spoken  by  Paul.  So  also  your  heart  must  be  opened,  in 
order  to  understand  the  truths  which  only  the  heart  can 
understand.  Or,  to  use  the  energetic  language  of  Scrip- 
ture, the  heart  of  flesh  must  take,  in  your  bosom,  the  place 
of  the  heart  of  stone. 

Alas !  with  a  conviction  firmly  established,  with  an  or- 
thodoxy the  most  perfect,  how  many  do  we  see,  strangers 
to  true  faith,  how  many  skeptical  believers,  how  many  who 
have  not  doubted  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  a  single  day 
of  their  life,  who  read  them  assiduously,  who  know  them 
even  by  heart,  and  who,  notwithstanding  all  this,  do  not 
believe  at  all !  Ah,  it  is  that  faith  is  something  else  than 
the  product  of  the  intellect ;  it  is  that  faith  is  love.  Knowl- 
edge may  give  us  convictions ;  love  alone  gives  us  life. 

The  first  advice  that  reason  ought  to  give  us,  should  be 
to  refuse  reason  in  every  thing  which  does  not  belong  to 
its  jurisdiction.  But  reason  is  proud,  reason  is  dogmatic ; 
it  will  not  submit.  What  then  does  our  Heavenly  Father 
do  when  he  desires  to  save  a  soul  ?  He  leaves  it  for  a 


THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART.  69 

time,  to  struggle  with  its  speculations,  and  to  vex  itself  with 
their  impotence.  When  it  is  weary  and  despairing,  when 
it  has  acknowledged  that  it  is  equally  incapable  of  stifling 
or  of  satisfying  its  craving  for  light,  he  takes  advantage  of 
its  humiliation ;  he  lays  his  hand  upon  that  soul,  exhausted 
by  its  efforts,  wounded  by  its  falls,  and  compels  it  to  sue 
for  quarter.  Then  it  humbles  itself,  submits,  groans ;  it 
cries  for  succor ;  it  renounces  the  claim  to  know,  and  de- 
sires only  to  believe ;  it  pretends  not  to  comprehend,  it  only 
aspires  to  live.  Then  the  heart  commences  its  functions ; 
it  takes  the  place  of  reason ;  anguished  and  craving,  the 
heart  is  such  as  God  would  have  it.  It  sues  for  grace,  and 
lo !  there  is  grace  ;  it  asks  for  aid,  and  aid  comes ;  it  craves 
salvation,  and  salvation  is  given !  On  that  heart,  confused 
and  miserable,  is  then  bestowed,  nay,  lavished,  all  that  was 
refused  to  reason,  proud  and  haughty.  Its  poverty  ena- 
bles it  to  conceive  what  its  wealth  kept  it  from  knowing. 
It  comprehends  with  ease,  it  accepts  with  ardor,  the  truths 
which  it  needs,  and  without  which  no  human  soul  can  en- 
joy peace  or  happiness.  And  thus  is  fulfilled  the  word  of 
wisdom  :  "  Out  of  the  heart  proceed  the  springs  of  life." 

Will  ye  come,  proud  spirits,  and  demand  from  such  an 
one  an  account  of  his  faith  ?  Certainly  he  will  not  explain 
to  you  what  is  inexplicable ;  in  this  respect  he  will  send 
you  away  poorly  satisfied.  But  if  he  says  to  you,  if  he 
can  say  to  you, — I  love  ! — ought  not  such  a  response  to 
satisfy  you  ?  If  he  can  say, — I  no  longer  belong  to  myself, 
nor  to  honor,  nor  to  the  world ;  my  meat  is  to  do  the  will 
of  my  heavenly  Father  ;  I  aspire  to  eternal  good  ;  I  love, 
in  God,  all  my  brethren,  with  a  cordial  affection ;  I  am 
content  to  live,  I  shall  be  happy  to  die ;  henceforth,  all  is 
harmony  within  me ;  my  energies  and  activities,  my  destiny 
and  desires,  my  affections  and  thoughts,  are  all  in  accord- 
ance ;  the  world,  this  life,  and  human  things  are  not  the 
mystery  which  torments  me,  nor  the  contradiction  that 
6* 


70  THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY   THE    HEART. 

causes  me  to  despair ;  in  a  word,  I  am  raised  to  newness  of 
life.  If  he  says,  if  he  can  say  to  you  all  this,  and  his  whole 
life  corroborates  his  words,  ah,  then,  do  not  waste  on  him 
vain  reasonings ;  try  not  to  refute  him  ;  he  has  truth,  for  he 
has  life.  He  touches  with  his  hands,  he  sees  with  his 
eyes,  he  perceives,  in  some  sort,  with  all  his  senses,  a  truth 
which  all  the  arguments  in  the  world  could  not  establish 
with  so  much  certainty,  which  all  the  arguments  in  the 
world  cannot  shake.  Does  the  person  who  enjoys  sight 
need  to  be  told  there  is  light  ?  Can  one  in  good  health  be 
persuaded  he  is  sick  ?  These  are  irrefragable  verities,  the 
proof  of  which  is  in  himself,  nay  more,  of  which  he  is  him- 
self the  living  proof. 

Thus  the  truths  of  the  gospel  have  changed  his  heart ; 
but  the  Spirit  of  God  must,  first  of  all,  have  prepared  it  to 
receive  them.  Let  us  not  lose  sight  of  these  two  facts  : — it 
is  the  gospel  which  renews  us,  and  it  is  the  Spirit  of  God 
which  enables  us  to  receive  the  gospel  into  our  heart. 
When  we  have  received  it,  when,  in  our  heart,  lately  sick 
and  insane,  love  has  established  his  immutable  empire,  that 
love  becomes  an  abundant  source  of  light.  By  it  a  thou- 
sand obscurities  of  the  word  are  cleared  away.  Its  flame 
imparts  no  less  light  than  heat.  Delightful  thought !  the 
more  we  love  the  more  we  know.  Such  is  the  experience 
of  the  Christian.  Do  you  not  wish  to  feel  it,  slaves  of 
reason,  melancholy  victims  of  a  knowledge  which  mistakes 
its  limits  and  exaggerates  its  rights  ?  Ye  who  know,  but 
do  not  live,  will  you  not  ask  from  God  love  in  order  to 
comprehend  love,  love  in  order  to  know,  love  in  order  to 
live? 

O,  God,  whom  we  should  never  have  known  hadst  thou 
not  deigned  to  discover  thyself  to  us  in  the  light  of  the 
gospel,  complete  the  great  work  thou  hast  begun.  Give  us 
a  heart  to  understand  the  truths  thou  hast  revealed  !  Let 
the  light  of  love,  shed  in  our  hearts  by  thee,  disperse  all  the 


THE    GOSPEL    COMPREHENDED   BY    THE    HEART.  71 

obscurities  of  thy  word  !  Let  thy  goodness,  let  thy  mar- 
vellous wisdom,  keep  from  us  no  other  secrets  than  those 
which  are  useless  for  us  to  know  ;  teach  us  by  love  the 
most  perfect  of  all  wisdom ;  render  the  most  simple  wise  in 
the  science  of  salvation  !  Thy  Spirit,  0  Lord,  is  love,  as 
thou  thyself  art  love.  Diffuse  it  through  the  whole  earth  ; 
spread,  in  every  place,  that  holy  flame ;  attract  all  hearts 
to  thyself;  make  of  all  souls  one  single  soul,  in  a  com- 
mon sentiment  of  adoration  and  devotion !  Lord !  we  shall 
know  all,  when  we  know  how  to  love  ;  we  shall  rejoice  in 
a  light  which  is  not  the  product  of  laborious  study,  but  one 
which  sanctifies  and  consoles  !  Then  truly  shalt  thou  have 
spoken  to  us  in  the  gospel.  Then  shall  it  be  seen  that  thou 
hast  given  to  us  a  message  of  love  and  peace ;  and  our  con- 
viction, cold,  sterile,  useless,  shall  be  changed  into  a  living 
faith,  full  of  hope,  full  of  good  fruits. 


IV. 


FOLLY  OF  THE  TRUTH.* 

""We  preach.  Christ  crucified, ....  to  the  Greeks  foolishness." 
1  COB.  1:  23. 

CHRISTIANITY  has  not  left  to  infidelity  the  satisfaction  of 
being  the  first  to  tax  it  with  folly.  It  has  hastened  to  bring 
this  accusation  against  itself.  It  has  professed  the  bold 
design  of  saving  men  by  a  folly.  Upon  this  point  it  has 
suffered  no  illusion  ;  it  knew  that  its  doctrine  would  pass 
for  an  insane  one  ;  it  knew  it  before  experience  of  the  fact, 
before  any  one  had  said  it ;  and  it  went  forth,  with  this 
folly  on  its  lips,  this  folly  for  a  standard,  to  the  conquest  of 
the  world.  If,  then,  it  is  foolish,  it  is  so  consciously  and 
voluntarily  ;  and  those  who  reproach  it  on  this  account,  will 
at  least  be  obliged  to  confess  that  it  has  foreseen  their 
reproach,  and  braved  it. 

Never  did  so  calm  a  foresight,  so  just  an  appreciation  of 
obstacles,  means  and  chances,  distinguish  the  author  of  a 
system,  or  the  founder  of  a  religion.  Never  did  any  one 
enter  so  fully  into  the  spirit  of  his  opponents,  and  transport 
himself  so  completely  from  his  own  point  of  view  to  theirs. 
When  it  is  seen  in  what  respect  Christianity  judges  itself 

*  The  word  folit  is  used  by  French  medical  writers  for  insanity;  and  it 
is  to  madness,  rather  than  simple  folly,  to  which  our  author  in  this  dis- 
course refers.  T. 


FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH.  73 

contrary  to  the  world,  and  the  world  contrary  to  it,  we  have 
an  idea  of  incompatibility  so  essential  and  profound,  that 
we  cannot  help  asking,  with  what  hope,  and  so  to  speak, 
with  what  right,  does  such  a  religion  propose  itself  to  the 
world ;  and  a  choice  remains  only  between  two  supposi- 
tions, that  of  an  extravagance  absolutely  unparalleled,  or  of 
a  secret  inspiration  and  a  supernatural  power. 

Of  course,  we  should  not  dream  of  pretending  that  this 
characteristic  of  a  doctrine  was,  by  itself,  a  presumption  in 
favor  of  its  truth.  Error,  too,  may  have  the  appearance  of 
folly,  for  error  is  sometimes  a  folly ;  I  mean  in  the  judg- 
ment of  men ;  for  it  is  doubtless  such  in  the  eyes  of  God. 
But  this  we  say,  that,  if  religion  were  destitute  of  such  a 
characteristic,  we  could  not  presume  it  to  be  true.  A 
religion,  which  should  appear  reasonable  to  the  whole  world, 
could  riot  be  the  true  one ;  in  that  general  assent  accorded 
to  it,  without  opposition,  I  recognize  the  fact,  that  God  has 
not  spoken ;  the  seal  is  not  broken,  the  light  has  not  burst 
forth ;  I  must  still  wait. 

This  idea  itself  is  not  a  folly ;  and  if  its  truth  does  not 
strike  at  first,  if  it  does  not  present  itself  as  a  revelation  of 
common  sense,  it  is  deduced  without  difficulty  from  other 
truths  which  common  sense  reveals,  and  which  no  man, 
unless  deprived  of  this  very  common  sense,  dreams  of  dis- 
avowing. Every  one,  if  he  will  reason  a  little,  will  range 
himself  on  the  side  of  this  paradox,  and  will  see  this  strange 
idea  gradually  become  an  obvious  truth.  Every  one  will 
acknowledge  that  true  religion  must,  at  its  first  appearance 
among  men,  be  saluted  from  all  sides  with  that  accusation 
of  folly  which  Christianity  has  so  loftily  braved. 

Let  us  leave  to  philosophers  and  physicians  the  task  of 
exactly  defining  insanity.  It  has,  at  least,  one  constant 
characteristic,  that  it  renders  a  man  unfit  for  human  life, 
taking  life,  in  this  instance,  only  in  its  essential  conditions. 
The  madman  and  the  idiot  do  not  form  a  part  of  society,  to 


74  FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH. 

which  the  weakest,  the  most  ignorant,  and  I  will  almost  say, 
the  most  savage  of  men  are  not  permitted*  in  all  the  force 
of  the  term,-  to  belong.  Insanity,  which  in  other  respects 
has  no  connection  with  crime,  must  at  -least,  have  this,  in 
common  with  it,  that  it  throws  us  violently  out  of  the  pale 
of  humanity.  It  is  a  monstrosity  in  the  sphere  of  intellect. 
But  as  the  evidence  of  such  monstrosity  is  to  believe  or  see 
something  which  no  man,  rightly  constituted,  and  healthy 
in  body  and  mind,  believes  and  sees, — since  it  is  necessarily 
under  such  an  aspect  that  insanity  manifests  itself, — it  fol- 
lows, that  wherever  this  characteristic  discovers  itself,  it 
awakens  the  idea  of  insanity.  So  that  even  a  man  who  is 
not  destitute  of  any  of  the  conditions  which  compose  our 
idea  of  humanity,  is,  nevertheless,  for  the  want  of  a  better 
term,  designated  a  fool,  when  by  his  opinions  he  is  found 
alone  in  the  midst  of  his  nation  or  his  age  ;  and  if  he  meets 
with  partizans,  real  or  pretended,  they  share  with  him,  so 
long  as  their  number  is  small,  the  same  title  and  the  same 
disgrace. 

Not  only  an  opinion  which  all  the  world  rejects,  but  a 
hope  which  no  one  shares,  or  a  plan  with  which  no  one 
associates  himself,  brings  the  charge  of  folly,  before  the 
multitude,  against  the  rash  man  who  has  conceived  it,  and 
who  cherishes  it.  His  opinion  may  seem  just,  and  his  aim 
reasonable  ;  he  is  a  fool  only  for  wishing  to  realize  it.  His 
folly  lies  in  believing  possible  what  all  the  world  esteems 
impossible.  Nay,  he  is  a  fool  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  even 
this.  If,  renouncing  hope,  he  does  not  abandon  desire ;  if 
he  makes  his  happiness  depend  upon  an  end  impossible  to 
be  attained,  or  an  improvement  impossible  to  be  accom- 
plished ;  if,  in  the  absence  of  a  good  which  appears  to  him 
indispensable,  of  an  ideal,  which  has  become,  as  it  were,  a 
part  of  his  soul,  he  judges  his  life  lost,  and  finds  no  relish 
in  any  of  the  joys  which  it  offers  to  the  rest  of  mankind, 
though  in  other  respects  he  fulfil  all  the  duties  which  his 


FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH.  75 

condition  as  a  man  imposes  on  him,  the  victim  and  sport 
of  a  fixed  idea,  he  is  a  madman,  at  least  with  reference  to 
that  particular  point ;  and  the  respect  which  others  feel  for 
him  does  not  hinder  them  from  pronouncing  insane  a  grief 
which  they  do  not  understand. 

They  do  not  always  apply  to  him  this  opprobrious  epi- 
thet ;  but  what  they  do  not  say,  they  think ;  what  they  do 
not  proclaim,  they  permit  to  be  seen.  That  man,  they  say, 
is  not  indeed  a  fool,  but  he  has  a  foolish  notion.  For 
insanity  is  not  necessarily  a  darkness  in  which  the  whole 
soul  is  enveloped ;  it  is  sometimes  only  a  dark  spot  in  a 
brilliant  light.  The  shadows  are  more  or  less  thick,  more 
or  less  diffused.  There  are  degrees  of  insanity ;  after  all,  it 
is  insanity.  We  need  not  dispute  about  a  term  ;  and  the 
world  will  ever  call  him  foolish  who  desires  to  be  wise  all 
alone. 

In  other  respects,  indeed,  the  world  is  willing  that  one 
should  be  wise.  It  says  so,  at  least ;  but  it  does  not  recog- 
nize any  wisdom  contrary  to  the  opinion  and  practice  of  the 
majority.  It  honors  principles ;  it  is  willing,  indeed,  that 
we  should  regulate  ourselves  by  them ;  but  it  might  be  said, 
that  it  really  knows  none  but  the  authority  of  numbers. 
At  least  numbers  and  also  time  are,  in  its  eyes,  so  strong  a 
presumption  of  truth,  that  it  rarely  gives  itself  the  trouble 
to  examine  if  one  or  a  few  individuals  may  not  be  right  in 
opposition  to  all ;  and  it  appears  as  if  it  would  compel  the 
truth,  which  has  nothing  in  common  with 'space  and  time, 
to  derive  itself  entirely  from  space  and  time. 

This  prepossession  is  not  without  some  foundation.  It 
is  not  natural  to  suppose  that  truth  was  made  to  be  the 
portion  of  a  small  number.  It  was  a  part,  and  the  best 
part,  of  the  heritage  of  humanity;  it  was  not  to  lie  dormant 
for  ages,  to  awaken  at  a  given  moment ;  nor  to  lose  itself  at 
at  a  distance  from  the  spirit  of  humanity,  to  be  recovered 
in  the  thoughts  of  some  favored  individual.  The  truth, 


76  FOLLY   OF    THE    TRUTH. 

necessary  to  all,  was  to  be  within  the  reach  of  all,  and  pre- 
sent itself  unceasingly  to  the  mind  of  all.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  truth,  in  the  healthy,  and  regular  condition  of 
human  nature.  But  those,  who  derive  truth  from  the  opin- 
ion of  the  majority,  either  do  not  believe  that  man  has  de- 
parted from  that  primitive  state,  or  they  forget  the  fact ;  or 
finally  they  believe  in  the  fall,  without  believing  its  princi- 
pal consequences.  They  do  not  reflect  that  one  of  its  first 
consequences  must  be  the  stupefaction  of  the  moral  sense, 
and  the  obscuration  of  our  natural  light.  They  do  not  con- 
sider that  the  knowledge  which  depends  upon  a  certain 
state  of  the  soul,  changes  with  that  very  state,  and  that  a 
conscience  which  has  become  dormant,  permits  all  kinds  of 
error  to  enter  the  mind.  They  do  not  perceive,  that  our 
soul  is  not  a  mirror,  in  which  truth  is  reflected  by  itself, 
but  an  opaque  surface,  on  which  it  has  always  to  be  graven 
afresh ;  that,  since  the  fall,  faith  is  so  little  independent  of 
the  will,  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  will  is  a  condition  and 
an  element  of  faith ;  that  truth  has  no  longer  an  irresistible 
evidence,  nor,  consequently,  the  power  of  making  the  same 
impressions  on  the  minds  of  all,  and  subjecting  them  at 
once  to  its  sway.  On  the  other  hand,  they  do  riot  see  that 
humanity,  having  been  corrupted  at  its  source,  it  is  with 
great  difficulty  that  certain  elementary  principles,  necessary 
to  the  existence  of  society,  are  preserved,  and  still  less,  we 
must  acknowledge  it,  preserved  as  true,  as  well  as  neces- 
sary. They  do  not  remind  themselves  of  the  fact,  that  cer- 
tain errors,  adapted  to  all,  have  been  able  easily  to  enter 
the  world  by  a  door  so  poorly  guarded  as  that  of  the  heart, 
there  to  usurp  authority,  to  establish  themselves  on  a  re- 
spectable footing,  to  become  the  rule  of  conduct,  and  the  test 
of  morals.  Will  they  deny  that  there  have  been  universal 
errors  ?  What  will  they  say  of  slavery,  that  appalling  evil, 
for  which,  during  ages,  no  one  had  the  slightest  shame  or 
remorse,  which  has  not  retired,  except  step  by  step,  before 


FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH.  77 

the  advancing  light  of  Christianity,  and,  which,  O  mourn- 
ful condition  of  human  nature !  some  civilized  men,  who 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  yet  defend  ?  When  these  errors 
come  to  be  torn  from  the  human  mind,  it  is  from  the  roots, 
it  is  for  ever ;  the  conscience  of  humanity  never  restores  any 
of  its  conquests.  But  such  errors  have  reigned ;  ages  have 
transmitted  them  intact  and  vital ;  and  if  universal  consent 
is  the  seal  of  truth,  they  are  as  irrefragably  true,  as  any  of 
the  truths  which  have  universal  consent  for  their  basis. 
Are  you  surprised  at  this  ?  Be  appalled,  but  do  not  be  sur- 
prised ;  for  if  the  fall  of  man  has  not  had  these  consequences^ 
I  am  ignorant  of  what  consequences  it  could  have,  and 
should  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  deeming  it  a  pure  fic- 
tion, or  of  all  truths,  the  most  insignificant  and  powerless. 
Many  reason  upon  this  subject,  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened, since  the  day  when  God,  looking  upon  his  work, 
saw  that  what  he  had  made  was  good.  They  speak  of 
truth,  as  if  its  condition  amongst  us  were  always  the  same. 
They  love  to  represent  it,  enveloping  and  accompanying 
humanity,  as  the  atmosphere  envelops  and  accompanies  our 
earth,  in  its  journey  through  the  heavens.  But  it  is  not 
so ;  truth  is  not  attached  to  our  mind,  as  the  asmosphere  to 
the  globe  we  inhabit.  Truth  is  a  suppliant,  who,  standing 
before  the  threshold,  is  for  ever  pressing  towards  the  hearth, 
from  which  sin  has  banished  it.  As  we  pass  and  re-pass 
before  that  door,  which  it  never  quits,  that  majestic  and 
mournful  figure  fixes  for  a  moment  our  distracted  atten- 
tion. Each  time  it  awakens  in  our  memory,  I  know  not 
what  dim  recollections  of  order,  glory  and  happiness ; 
but  we  pass,  and  the  impression  vanishes.  We  have  not 
been  able  entirely  to  repudiate  the  truth ;  we  still  retain 
some  unconnected  fragments  of  it ;  what  of  its  light  our 
enfeebled  eye  can  bear,  what  of  it  is  proportioned  to  our 
condition.  The  rest  we  reject  or  disfigure,  so  as  to  ren- 
der it  difficult  of  recognition,  while  we  retain, — which 
7 


78  FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH. 

is  one  of  our  misfortunes,  —  the  names  of  things  we 
no  longer  possess.  Moral  and  social  truth  is  like  one  of 
those  monumental  inscriptions^  over  which  the  whole  com- 
munity pass  as  they  go  to  their  business,  and  which  every 
day  become  more  and  more  defaced ;  until  some  friendly 
chisel  is  applied  to  deepen  the  lines  in  that  worn-out  stone, 
so  that  every  one  is  forced  to  perceive,  and  to  read  it. 
That  chisel  is  in  the  hands  of  a  small  number  of  men,  who 
perseveringly  remain  prostrate  before  that  ancient  inscrip- 
tion, at  the  risk  of  being  dashed  upon  the  pavement,  and 
trampled  under  the  heedless  feet  of  the  passers-by ;  in  other 
words,  this  truth  dropped  into  oblivion,  that  duty  fallen 
into  disuse,  finds  a  witness  in  the  person  of  some  man  who 
has  not  believed,  without  any  other  consideration,  than  that 
all  the  world  are  right,  simply  and  solely,  because  it  is 
all  the  world. 

The  strange  things  which  that  strange  man  says,  and 
which  some  other  repeats  after  him,  will  not  fail  to  be 
believed  sooner  or  later,  and  finally  become  the  universal 
opinion.  And  why  ?  Because  truth  is  truth ;  because  it 
corresponds  to  every  thing,  satisfies  every  thing ;  because, 
both  in  general  and  in  detail,  it  is  better  adapted  to  us  than 
error ;  because,  bound  up  by  the  most  intimate  relations, 
with  all  the  order  in  the  universe,  it  has  in  our  interests 
and  wants,  a  thousand  involuntary  advocates;  because 
every  thing  demands  it,  every  thing  cries  after  it ;  because 
error  exhausts  and  degrades  itself ;  because  falsehood,  which 
at  first  appeared  to  benefit  all,  has  ended  by  injuring  all ; 
so  that  truth  sits  down  in  its  place,  vacant,  as  it  were,  for  the 
want  of  a  suitable  heir.  Enemies  concur  with  friends,  obsta- 
cles with  means,  to  the  production  of  that  unexpected  result. 
Combinations  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  give  account,  and 
of  which  God  only  has  the  secret,  secure  that  victory.  But 

*The  monumental  inscriptions  here  referred  to,  are  supposed  to  be  level 
with  the  ground.  T. 


FOLLY   OF    THE    TRUTH.  79 

conscience  is  not  a  stranger  here ;  for  there  is  within  us, 
whatever  we  do,  a  witness  to  the  truth,  a  witness  timid  and 
slow,  but  which  a  superior  force  drags  from  its  retreat,  and 
at  last  compels  to  speak.  It  is  thus,  that  truths,  the  most 
combated,  and,  at  first,  sustained  by  organs  the  most  de- 
spised, end  by  becoming,  in  their  turn,  popular  convictions. 
This  is  our  hope  with  reference  to  that  truth  which  includes 
all  truths,  or  in  the  bosom  of  which  they  are  all  formed 
anew.  We  firmly  believe,  conformably  to  the  divine  prom- 
ise, that  a  time  will  come,  when  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
if  not  loved  by  all,  will  at  least  be  believed  and  professed 
by  all. 

This,  however,  does  not  prevent  all  such  truths  from 
being  combated,  and  their  first  witnesses  from  passing  for 
madmen.  At  the  head  of  each  of  those  movements  which 
have  promoted  the  elevation  of  the  human  race,  what  do 
you  see  ?  In  the  estimation  of  the  world,  madmen.  And 
the  contempt  they  have  attracted  by  their  folly,  has  always 
been  proportioned  to  the  grandeur  of  their  enterprise,  and 
the  generosity  of  their  intentions.  The  true  heroes  of  hu- 
manity have  always  been  crowned  by  that  insulting  epi- 
thet. And  the  man,  who  to-day  in  a  pious  enthusiasm,  or 
yet  more,  to  please  the  world,  celebrates  those  men  whose 
glory  lies  in  having  dared  to  displease  the  world,  would, 
during  their  life,  have  perhaps  been  associated  with  their 
persecutors.  He  honors  them,  not  because  they  are  wor- 
thy of  honor,  but  because  he  sees  them  honored.  His 
fathers  have  killed  the  prophets,  and  he  their  son,  subdued 
by  universal  admiration,  builds  the  tombs  of  the  prophets. 

The  world  demands, —  and  it  is  always  by  a  forgetfulness 
of  the  condition  into  which  we  are  fallen  that  it  does  so,  — 
that  truth  should  present  itself  with  the  advantage  of  sim- 
plicity and  clearness.  Many  wish  to  make  this  a  condition 
of  truth  ;  they  wish  to  recognize  it  by  this  mark.  That  is 
all  very  well !  But  in  order  that  it  may  appear  simple, 


80  FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH. 

let  us  first  have  an  eye  simple  like  it.  Is  it  the  fault  of  truth, 
if  our  heart  being  divided,  our  intellect  should  be  divided 
also,  and  that  the  axioms  of  man  innocent,  are  the  problems 
of  man  fallen  ?  But  without  insisting  on  this  reply,  which 
may  not  perhaps  be  received  by  those  who  do  not  believe 
in  the  first  fall,  let  us  give  another,  which  may  be  within 
the  view  and  reach  of  all.  If  we  make  clearness  and  sim- 
plicity the  test  of  truth,  we  run  the  risk,  in  many  cases,  of 
embracing  error,  instead  of  truth  ;  for  error,  in  most  instan- 
ces, has  over  the  truth  the  advantage  of  simplicity  Error, 
very  often,  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  suppress  one  of  the 
elements  of  a  question,  to  procure  for  it,  by  that  arbitrary 
suppression,  a  similitude  of  unity.  Every  truth,  in  the 
actual  condition  of  human  nature,  is  composed  of  two  terms, 
which  must  be  harmonized,  and  which  does  not  become 
truth  in  our  minds,  but  by  their  reconciliation.*  There 

*  The  reference  here  is  obviously  to  that  principle  of  the  Baconian  phi- 
losophy, so  clearly  developed  in  the  .Novum  Organum,  by  which  all  facts 
and  truths  are  to  be  investigated,  on  what  Bacon  calls  their  negative  and 
affirmative  sides.  Things  are  often  not  what  they  seem.  All  questions 
have  two  aspects  ;  and  negative  instances  are  uniformly  to  be  reconciled 
to  positive,  in  order  that  truth  may  be  evolved  and  established.  Take, 
for  example,  the  principle  or  fact  of  gravitation,  by  which  all  bodies  tend 
to  their  centre,  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  their  distance.  This  is  proved  by 
innumerable  facts.  But  many  things  seem  opposed  to  it,  such  as  the  rising 
of  smoke,  gases,  vapors,  and  the  like.  These  constitute  the  negative 
side  of  the  question,  and  must  be  shown  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  facts 
on  the  affirmative  side.  The  earth  revolves  around  the  sun;  but  the  sun 
appears  to  revolve  around  the  earth ;  it  seems  to  rise  and  set,  while  the 
earth  appears  stationary.  These  facts  must  be  harmonized,  by  reference 
to  a  single  principle,  or  class  of  principles,  in  which  they  all  unite. 

In  moral  or  spiritual  truths,  the  fact  under  consideration  is  still  more 
obvious.  Is  man  a  spiritual  and  immortal  being  ?  This  is  generally  con- 
ceded, and  the  proof  is  satisfactory.  But  many  facts  seem  opposed  to  it. 
For  man  sleeps,  he  decays,  he  loses  his  reason,  he  dies.  This  is  the  neg- 
ative side  of  the  question,  and  must  be  shown  to  be  in  harmony  with  the 
other,  before  the  truth  can  be  established.  God  is  good  and  merciful. 
This  is  the  affirmative  side  of  a  most  important  fact.  But  many  things 
seem  opposed  to  it,  such  as  the  universal  ignorance  and  wretchedness  of 
roan,  the  apparent  disorders,  in  the  natural,  and  moral  worlds,  which  are 


FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH.  81 

are  always  two  elements  to  be  reduced  to  a  single  one,  either 
by  the  conciliation  or  the  suppression  of  one  of  them.  The 
first  step  towards  the  truth,  is  to  recognize  the  existence  of 
two  elements ;  the  second  is,  to  re-unite,  without  destroy- 
ing them.  Now,  in  what  position  in  reference  to  these, 
are  the  greater  part  of  sincere  and  thoughtful  men ;  or,  to 
speak  more  properly,  in  what  position  is  humanity  ?  In 
the  first ;  that  is  to  say,  it  recognizes  this  duality.  The 
human  mind,  in  general,  is  not  in  that  state  of  simplicity 
which  some  would  make  the  characteristic  and  mark  of 
truth.  Who,  then,  will  appropriate  to  themselves  this  mark 
and  characteristic  ?  Those,  doubtless,  who  will  rid  them- 
selves of  one  of  the  elements  of  the  question,  or  one  of  the 
parts  of  the  truth,  that  they  may  occupy  their  attention  only 
with  one.  Hence,  it  is  their  opinion  only  which  will 
appear  simple ;  and,  in  a  certain  sense,  it  will  be  so  in 
reality.  And  since  this  simplicity  flatters  at  once  the  indo- 
lence and  impatience  of  the  human  mind,  and  since,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  mind  ever  carries  within  it  the  sentiment 

permitted,  if  not  inflicted,  by  the  Divine  Being.  The  two  sides  of  the 
question,  then,  must  be  reconciled,  by  the  intervention  of  some  other  prin- 
ciple, or  fact,  such  as  the  justice  of  God,  the  free-agency  of  man,  or  the 
indissoluble  connection  between  sin  and  misery.  This  duality  of  truth,  if 
it  may  be  so  called,  is,  if  possible,  still  more  obvious  in  revelation.  It  is 
affirmed,  for  example,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God;  but  he  is  also  spoken  of 
as  man,  with  all  the  feelings  and  infirmities  of  man.  He  loves,  he  suf- 
fers, he  dies.  In  one  case  he  acts  the  sovereign,  in  another  the  servant. 
Now  he  wields  the  energies  of  omnipotence.  Anon  he  groans  beneath 
the  pressure  of  calamity.  Now  he  lies  in  the  grave  guarded  by  Roman 
soldiers,  then  he  breaks  the  bands  of  death,  and  ascends  "  far  above  all 
principality,  and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is 
named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  that  which  is  to  come."  Where, 
then,  is  the  fact,  the  consideration, or  the  principle,  which  must  harmonize 
these  two  classes  of  opposing  facts,  the  negative  and  positive  sides  of  the 
problem  relative  to  the  mystery  of  Christ?  Is  it  not  found  in  the  fact, 
that  Jesus  is  both  God  and  man,  or,  as  the  New  Testament  expresses  it, 
"  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  1"  If  this  can  be  shown,  then  the  two  terms  of 
the  question  are  reconciled,  and  the  truth  in  the  ease  is  established. 

T. 


82  FOLLY   OF   THE   TRUTH. 

that  there  is  no  truth  but  in  unity,  man,  dazzled  with  that 
false  and  artificial  unity,  will  eagerly  abandon  himself  to 
opinions  which  present  it  to  him,  and  will  maintain  them, 
until  constrained  to  acknowledge  their  falseness  in  their 
consequences,  which  violate  at  once  his  own  nature,  and 
the  nature  of  things. 

What  has  given  success  to  the  most  pernicious  errors, 
whether  in  matters  of  religion  or  of  social  order?  Their 
great  air  of  simplicity.  What  has  been  alleged  in  their 
favor?  Common  sense.  The  vulgar,  the  whole  world, 
indeed,  permits  itself  to  be  caught  by  that  bait.  But 
human  life  obstinately  refuses  to  settle  down  upon 
such  a  basis.  Common  opinion  originates  no  doctrine 
with  which  man  can  remain  satisfied.  The  ideas  to  which 
he  is  obliged  to  remount  in  order  to  give  dignity  to  his 
life,  possess  much  more  the  character  of  paradoxes  than 
of  common  sense 'notions.  Doubtless  there  was  a  time 
when  man  obtained  them  by  immediate  intuition,  and  not 
through  the  intervention  of  reflection;  because  such  ideas 
were  not  distinguished  from  his  very  existence.*  But  that 
time  is  no  more ;  the  pure  light  is  broken  in  the  prism  of 
sin ;  the  power  of  collecting  the  scattered  rays  is  not  within 
us;  and  common  sense  has  not  filled  the  place  of  intuition. 
If  man  yet  accomplishes  great  and  sublime  things  in  the 
world,  it  is  not  under  the  inspiration  of  common  opinion, 
but  under  some  glimmering  of  primitive  light ;  nor  is  it  to 
common  opinion  they  are  ascribed,  for  it  is  in  its  name 
they  are  condemned.  In  the  eyes  of  the  mass,  self-denial, 
humility  and  martyrdom  are  not  common  sense. 

Thus  have  I  called  attention  to  a  fact,  and  given  an 
explanation  of  it.  It  is  that  a  general  contempt  has  often 
covered  those  who  have  recalled  to  the  notice  of  men  some 
principle  of  eternal  rectitude,  some  truth  essential  to  the 

*  They  formed  a  part  of  himself.  He  acted  upon  them  naturally  and 
spontaneously.  His  mind  was  clear,  and  his  heart  innocent.  T. 


FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH.  83 

elevation  of  human  nature ;  and  the  explanation  I  have 
given  of  it  is,  the  fall.  Let  us,  if  you  please,  for  the  pres- 
ent, leave  the  explanation,  and  confine  ourselves  to  the 
fact.  We  ask  only  that  it  be  affirmed  or  denied.  But  we 
can  scarcely  believe  that  any  one  will  deny  it.  For,  that 
certain  individual  opinions,  which  have  subsequently 
become  universal,  have  caused  their  first  partizans  to  be 
treated  as  madmen  or  criminals,  who  would  wish  to  dis- 
pute? And  yet  to  maintain  that  these  opinions,  now  become 
universal,  were,  after  all,  errors,  would  argue  a  disposition 
of  mind,  and  even  a  state  of  moral  feeling,  which  we  are 
not  permitted  to  anticipate.  I  remind  you  only  that  tor- 
ture, slavery,  the  degradation  of  the  female  sex,  and 
compulsion  in  matters  of  religion,  have  existed  amongst 
us  as  truths  of  public  recognition,  and  almost  as  articles  of 
faith ;  and  that  there  is  a  country,  where  the  man  who 
should  wish  to  prevent  widows  from  burning  themselves 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  their  husbands,  would  be  consid- 
ered a  madman  or  an  infidel.  Suppose,  then,  that  the 
fact  in  question  is  admitted  by  all  our  readers ;  let  us 
occupy  ourselves  only  with  appreciating  its  nature. 

If  the  defenders  of  the  most  necessary,  and,  in  the  pres- 
ent day,  the  most  evident  truths,  have,  in  all  epochs  and  in 
all  countries,  gone  by  the  name  of  fools ;  if  they  have  been 
hated,  despised  and  persecuted;  if  the  truth  of  which  they 
were  the  messengers  has  not  penetrated,  except  slowly 
and  by  a  sanguinary  road,  into  common  opinion,  laws  and 
manners ;  if  it  had  to  submit  to  that  exile  of  ages,  in  order 
to  reach,  as  we  have  said,  from  the  threshold  to  the  hearth, 
what,  we  ask,  is  the  condition  of  truth  on  the  earth,  and 
the  position  of  man  with  reference  to  it  ?  We  say  nothing 
of  the  fall ;  let  us  admit  that  man  has  not  fallen ;  let  us  not 
ask  what  he  might  have  been  formerly ;  let  us  look  only 
at  what  he  is  at  present,  that  is,  since  the  remotest  era  to 
which  we  can  go  back  by  the  aid  of  historical  monuments. 


84  FOLLY   OF  THE   TRUTH. 

What  is  the  disposition  of  a  being  respecting  the  truth 
who  at  first  rejects  it ;  who  despises  those  who  proclaim 
it;  who,  when  he  accepts  it,  submits  to  it  rather  than 
accepts  it ;  who  receives  it  only  by  little  and  little,  and  in 
a  shattered  and  fragmentary  state ;  who  finally  attaches 
himself  to  it,  I  acknowledge,  and  does  not  abandon  it,  but, 
like  a  husband,  who,  during  long  years,  has  shown  himself 
stupidly  insensible  to  the  virtues  of  his  wife,  and  finally 
yields  only  to  the  inconceivable  obstinacy  of  a  patience 
and  an  affection  almost  superhuman. 

That  effort,  that  sanguinary  struggle,  with  which 
humanity,  wrestling,  so  to  speak,  against  itself,  seizes,  one 
by  one,  the  most  necessary  truths;  the  bad  grace  with 
which  it  is  done,  and  the  incapacity  of  not  doing  otherwise, 
indicate  two  things  at  once ;  the  first,  that  man  cannot  do 
without  the  truth ;  the  second,  that  he  is  not  in  fellowship 
with  the  truth.  But  truth  is  one ;  and  all  those  truths 
successively  discovered,  are  only  parts,  or  diverse  applica- 
tions of  it.  All  the  truths  which  are  sometimes  called 
principles  are  the  consequences  of  a  first  principle.  That 
principle  includes  all,  unites  all ;  it  is  from  this  source 
they  derive  their  evidence,  their  life,  their  immortality. 
That  principle  is  the  first  truth  which  must  be  honored, 
the  first  light  that  must  be  kindled.  It  will  itself  kindle 
all  extinguished  truths,  shed  over  them  an  equal  radiance, 
and  nourish  all  their  scattered  lamps  with  a  divine  oil,  the 
source  of  which  is  inexhaustible,  because  it  is  divine.  We 
must  have  a  key  to  all  problems,  a  primary  idea,  by  means 
of  which  all  else  may  be  known ;  truth  is  one,  because 
man  is  one ;  it  is  one,  or  it  is  nothing. 

We  here  say  nothing  new.  This  is  the  very  idea 
which  the  human  mind  has  best  preserved  of  its  ancient 
heritage.  It  has  always  endeavored  to  attach  all  its 
thoughts,  all  its  life,  to  one  grand  and  unique  principle. 
This  effort  has  given  birth  to  all  religions ;  for  that  primary 


FOLLY   OF   THE    TRUTH.  85 

principle  could  be  nothing  but  God ;  and  the  great  question 
at  issue  has  been  to  form  an  idea  of  God.  But  man  has 
never  failed  to  make  God  after  his  own  image,  and  his 
various  religions  have  never  surpassed  himself;  for  if  by 
these  he  imposes  on  himself  acts  and  privations  which  he 
would  not  otherwise  impose,  these  toils,  which  are  of  his 
own  choice,  do  not  raise  him  above  himself.  Hence  these 
religions  do  not  change  the  principle  of  his  inner  life ;  they 
subject  him  to  an  external  sway,  only  to  leave  him  free  at 
heart ;  in  a  word,  they  do  not  substitute  the  new  man  for 
the  old.  And  since  they  take  man  at  a  given  point  in 
space  and  duration,  they  are  necessarily  temporary,  and 
retire  before  a  new  degree  of  culture,  and  a  new  form  of 
civilization.  But  at  their  first  appearance,  however  absurd 
they  may  be,  they  are  by  no  means  taxed  with  folly; 
because  they  are  only  a  form  given  to  the  moral  condition 
of  all, — a  form  which  is  itself  the  result  of  time,  place  and 
traditions ;  it  is  born  and  grows  up  with  the  people ;  it  is 
itself  as  appropriate  and  natural  as  their  manners;  and 
they  will  take  care  not  to  accuse  of  extravagance  their  own 
work,  and  their  own  thought. 

But  let  a  doctrine  present  itself,  which,  so  far  from  being 
formed  in  the  image  of  man  as  he  is,  appears,  on  the  con- 
trary, formed  in  the  image  of  man  as  he  is  not ;  a  doctrine 
which  compels  man  to  surpass  himself,  and  which  changes 
the  character,  not  of  a  particular  class,  or  of  a  single  energy 
or  faculty,  but  of  the  entire  human  life  ;  a  doctrine  which 
places  the  object  of  humanity  higher  than  it  is  placed  by 
any  individual,  or  by  mankind  generally,  how,  think  you, 
will  it  be  received  ?  What !  the  particular  applications  of 
the  principle  have  cost  those  who  proposed  it,  contempt 
and  insult,  while  the  very  principle  of  all  these  applica- 
tions, that  which  included  them  all,  and  discovers  many 
others  like  them,  do  not  bring  upon  its  defenders  insult 
and  contempt !  What !  hate  the  consequences  !  and  yet  not 


86  FOLLY   OF    THE    TRUTH. 

hate  the  principle  which  sanctions  them,  enforces  them, 
and  will  continually  give  rise  to  others  of  a  similar  kind ! 
We  do  not  think  so.  That  principle  will  not  escape 
hatred,  unless  by  contempt,  or  rather  it  will  suffer  both  by 
turns ;  the  hatred  of  those  who  cannot  help  suspecting  its 
truth ;  the  contempt  of  others,  who,  looking  on  it  only  as  a 
prejudice  different  from  their  own,  will  not  believe  it  for- 
midable enough  to  deserve  their  hatred.  Let  us  rather 
say,  that  both  of  them  will  be  forced  to  regard  it  as  a  folly. 
For  what  is  that  principle,  which  has  created,  so  to  speak, 
another  human  nature.  It  cannot  be  an  abstraction ;  it 
must  be  a  fact.  It  must  be  a  fact  of  a  new  order,  because 
ordinary  facts  would  leave  us  in  our  ordinary  condition. 
It  is,  then,  a  divine  fact ;  for  to  God  only  does  it  belong  to 
create  a  fact  of  a  new  order.  Hence  it  is  a  fact  which  we 
could  not  foresee.  And  since  we  could  not  foresee  it,  we 
cannot  comprehend  it.  It  is  not  a  natural  but  a  supernat- 
ural fact ;  it  is  a  miracle ;  it  is  a  folly.  Indeed,  it  is  not  a 
religion  such  as  that  which  man  makes  for  himself.  True 
religion  is  a  revelation  of  God ;  and  if  God  has  spoken, 
what  he  has  said  is  necessarily  a  folly  to  those  who  do  not 
believe.  Those,  too,  who  convey  this  revelation,  or  relate 
this  fact,  or  announce  this  message,  will  excite  in  the  world 
an  immense  surprise ;  will  revolt  the  wise,  alarm  the 
timid,  irritate  the  powerful.  They  will  see  let  loose  against 
them  the  ignorant  as  well  as  the  wise ;  for  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  be  learned  in  order  to  discern  folly.  As  to  the 
effects  which  this  fact  has  produced  upon  them,  and  the 
internal  revolution  they  have  undergone,  if  they  speak 
of  them,  they  will  not  be  believed;  their  most  certain 
experiences  will  appear  but  as  vain  fancies.  And  since 
the  world  do  not  comprehend  their  principles,  neither  will 
they  comprehend  their  conduct;  they  will  complain  of 
them  as  enthusiasts ;  they  will  ridicule  them  as  mystics, 
until  that  power  of  truth,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  has 


FOLLY   OF   THE    TRUTH.  87 

acted  upon  the  most  rebellious  spirits,  subdued  contempt, 
and  finally  forced  the  wisest  to  confess  and  to  bless  that 
folly. 

The  history  I  have  just  recounted,  is  that  of  the  gospel. 
Christian  truth,  simply  because  it  was  the  truth,  must,  at  its 
first  appearance,  have  had  all  the  world  against  it.  It  has 
become,  externally,  the  religion  of  nations ;  and  govern- 
ments have  done  themselves  the  honor  to  protect  it,  or  to  be 
protected  by  it.  It  would,  indeed,  be  difficult  to  say,  with 
precision,  what  the  nations  have  adopted  under  the  name  of 
the  Christian  religion.  They  never  believe,  with  the  same 
faith  as  individuals.  A  nation  has  its  manner  of  being 
Christian,  just  as  an  individual  has  his.  One  must  be  a 
Christian  according  to  the  standard  of  the  world,  not  to  be 
a  fool  in  its  judgment.  The  world  has  abstracted  from 
Christianity  a  part  of  its  folly ;  it  has  rendered  it  almost 
wise,  at  least,  in  practice ;  so  that,  even  in  the  midst  of  a 
Christian  nation,  the  Christian  who  accepts  all  that  folly, 
passes  for  a  foolish  man.  It  is  not,  then,  necessary  to  go 
amongst  the  Mussulmans,  or  the  followers  of  Budh,  to  hear 
ourselves  denominated  insane  on  account  of  Christianity ;  the 
occasion  will  never  be  wanting  in  Christendom,  and  even  in 
the  bosom  of  a  people  the  most  attached  to  the  worship  of 
their  fathers.  The  folly  of  the  cross  will  always  spring 
from  the  book  of  the  gospel ;  it  will  always  break  out  in  the 
profession  and  conduct  of  those  who  have  accepted  it 
earnestly  and  without  restriction.  The  Christian,  conse- 
quently, will  always  be  tempted  to  dissemble  his  faith ;  and 
it  will  therefore  ever  be  one  of  his  duties  to  brave  popular 
contempt,  and  confess  himself  tainted  with  that  sublime 
folly. 

But  if  any  one  supposes  that  the  whole  matter  at  issue 
turns  on  confessing  his  faith  in  Christ  once  for  all,  he  is 
greatly  mistaken.  Christianity  is  something  more  than  an 


SS  FOLLY   OF    THE    TRUTH. 

assemblage  of  dogmas ;  it  is  especially  the  principle  of  a 
new  life.  The  folly  of  the  Christian  does  not  always  consist 
in  the  doctrines  he  adopts.  It  consists  more,  much  more,  in 
the  maxims  which  serve  to  regulate  his  conduct.  He  is 
foolish  in  practice,  as  well  as  in  theory.  He  separates 
himself  from  other  men  in  a  thousand  ways,  the  greater 
part  of  which,  I  allow,  are  not  visible,  but  remain  secret 
between  himself  and  God.  But  it  is  impossible  that  this 
separation  should  not  sometimes  be  obvious  and  public  ;  if 
he  does  not  seek  occasions  for  it,  it  is  certain  he  will  not 
avoid  them.  The  same  Christianity  which  teaches  him 
maxims  inconceivable  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  teaches  him 
to  follow  them  without  fear  and  dissimulation.  Such 
courage  is  the  first  law  and  the  first  mark  of  a  true  Chris- 
tian. Every  Christian  is,  first  of  all,  a  witness;  every 
witness  is,  by  anticipation,  a  martyr. 

Christianity  has  effected  this  revolution  in  the  world.  It 
has  given  to  truth  a  dignity  independent  of  time  and  num- 
bers. It  has  required  that  truth  should  be  believed  and 
respected  for  itself.  It  has  claimed  that  every  one  should 
be  able  to  judge  of  its  merits  ;  that  the  most  ignorant  and 
the  most  isolated  should  find  in  himself  sufficient  reasons 
to  believe ;  that  in  order  to  decide  regarding  it,  he  should 
not  inquire  if  others  around  him  believe  it,  but  that  he 
should  be  ready,  when  occasion  requires,  to  be  alone  in  his 
opinion,  and  to  persist  in  it.  So  many  men  make  no  use 
of  their  conscience ;  so  many  who  practise  a  duty  would 
not  even  suspect  that  it  was  a  duty,  if  they  found  that  opin- 
ion prevalent ;  so  many  who  have  no  doubt  respecting  a 
duty,  do  not  expect  to  recognize  and  discharge  it  until  they 
see  it  performed  by  those  of  their  fellow-men  in  whom  they 
have  the  greatest  confidence  !  They  believe  so  much  in 
man,  so  much  in  numbers,  so  much  in  antiquity,  and  so 
little  in  truth  !  But  Christianity  was  designed  to  produce 


FOLLY    OF    THE    TRUTH.  89 

a  race  of  men  who  should  believe  in  truth,  not  in  numbers, 
nor  in  years,  nor  in  force, — men,  consequently,  who  should 
be  ready  to  pass  for  fools. 

********* 

O,  then,  let  us  daily  ask  God  to  form  around  us  an 
immense  void,  in  which  we  shall  see  nothing  but  Him, — a 
profound  silence,  in  which  we  shall  hear  nothing  but  Him ! 
Let  us  beseech  Him  to  raise  our  souls  to  an  elevation, 
where  fear  of  the  judgments  of  the  world  shall  not  reach 
us ;  where  the  world  itself  shall  disappear  and  sink  away 
beneath !  Let  us  entreat  Him  to  envelop  us  in  his  radi- 
ance, and  inspire  us  with  the  holy  folly  of  his  gospel,  and 
especially,  to  penetrate  our  souls  with  a  love  "  to  him  that 
hath  loved  us,"  so  intense  and  dominant,  that  it  would  cost 
us  more  to  descend  from  that  height  to  the  world,  than  it 
has  cost  us  to  ascend  thither  from  the  world.  Let  us  not 
only  pray  without  ceasing,  but  let  us  unceasingly  watch, 
unceasingly  strive ; — no  means,  no  effort  is  too  much  to 
disengage  us  from  the  restraints  of  worldly  wisdom,  to 
make  us  die  to  that  vain  wisdom,  and  enable  us  to  taste,  in 
the  bosom  of  God,  the  plenitude  of  truth,  and  the  plenitude 
of  life. 

8 


V. 


THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 


"And  I  sa-w  another  angel  fly  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  ever- 
lasting gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and 
to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people." — REV.  14  :  6. 

AMONG  skeptics  who  resist,  with  the  greatest  pertinacity, 
the  arguments  of  the  defenders  of  Christianity,  there  are 
none,  doubtless,  who  would  not  be  ready  to  declare,  that  a 
sensible  proof,  an  authentic  miracle,  would  not  find  them 
incorrigible.  Show  us,  they  will  say  to  you,  what  St.  John 
is  said  to  have  seen,  "  an  angel  flying  in  the  midst  of  hea- 
ven, having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  tribe,  and 
tongue,  and  people,"  and  we  shall  be  converted.  This  is 
to  promise  what  is  beyond  their  power ;  miracles  do  not 
convert ;  the  sight  of  them  can  only  convince  the  under- 
standing; the  heart  needs  that  demonstration  of  power 
which  belongs  only  to  the  Spirit  of  God.  But  if  miracles, 
clear  and  well  attested,  are  capable  of  producing  on  the 
mind  an  impression  which  predisposes  it  to  receive  the 
message  of  salvation,  let  skeptics  cease  to  demand  the  vis- 
ion of  St.  John;  they  have  something  of  still  greater  value  ; 
that  vision  is  an  image  of  which  they  have  the  reality. 


THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  91 

They  can,  as  well  as  St.  John,  and  in  some  sense,  better  than 
he,  see  that  angel  who  bears  through  the  heavens  the  ever- 
lasting gospel  to  those  that  dwell  on  the  earth.  I  mean,  that 
they  can  discover  in  Christianity  a  character  of  perpetuity 
and  universality,  as  striking  at  least  to  the  reason,  as  the 
sight  of  an  angel  flying  in  the  expanse  of  heaven,  would 
be  to  the  eyes  and  the  imagination.  If  they  require  a 
.  miracle,  here  is  one.  For  to  what  will  they  give  the  name 
of  a  miracle,  if  they  refuse  it  to  a  fact  unique  in  its  kind, 
inconceivable  in  its  production,  contrary  to  all  probabilities, 
inaccessible  to  all  induction,  and  which,  before  seeing  it 
realized,  every  one  would  have  judged  impossible  ?  Let 
them  lend  us  such  attention  as  the  subject  demands,  and 
we  shall  hope  that  the  facts  we  are  about  to  present  will 
make  such  an  impression  on  them,  as  will  induce  them  to 
extend  their  investigations,  and  inform  themselves  more 
thoroughly  respecting  the  gospel. 

This  is  the  question  we  propose  for  discussion.  Is  it 
in  the  nature  of  things  that  a  doctrine,  the  principal  ideas 
of  which  are  not  susceptible  of  being  proved,  still  less  dis- 
covered by  mere  reason,  should  live  in  all  times,  and  be 
introduced  among  all  nations  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  should 
become,  in  all  times,  and  in  all  nations,  the  vivifying 
principle  of  morality,  and  the  beneficent  auxiliary  of  the 
progress  of  the  human  mind  ? 

Have  the  goodness  to  reply ;  but  recollect,  that  the  exam- 
ples you  shall  cite  must  want  none  of  the  conditions  enu- 
merated in  my  questions.  The  doctrine  under  consideration 
is  one  which  can  neither  be  demonstrated,  nor  discovered 
by  reason.  It  is  one  capable  of  embracing  all  times,  and 
all  nations.  It  is  one  which  takes  the  principal  direction 
of  the  conduct  of  those  who  embrace  it.  It  is  one  favor- 
able to  the  progress  of  the  human  mind,  and  the  onward 
march  of  civilization  ; — four  conditions,  each  of  which  is 
essential. 


92  THE   GENIUS   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

I  see,  indeed,  a  doctrine  common  to  all  times,  and  all 
nations,  that  of  the  existence  of  God,  and  the  immortality 
of  the  soul ;  two  inseparable  truths,  the  union  of  which 
forms  what  is  called  natural  religion.  It  is  natural,  in 
fact,  because  nature  appears  every  where  to  have  taught 
its  elements  to  the  human  soul.  It  is  every  where  one  of 
the  first  products  of  reason,  one  of  the  first  results  of  its 
intellectual  activity.  It  is  the  conclusion  of  a  reasoning  so 
simple,  and  so  rapid,  that  the  reasoning,  so  to  speak,  disap- 
pears, and  the  soul  appears  to  obtain  it  by  intuition.  It  is 
universal,  if  you  please,  because  it  is  natural.  It  is  not, 
however,  a  natural,  but  a  positive  religion,  in  which  we 
demand  this  character  of  universality.*  As  soon  as  natural 
religion  professes  to  clothe  itself  in  determined  forms,  una- 
nimity ceases,  no  human  power  can  establish  it.  Natural 
religion,  the  instant  it  becomes  positive,  ceases  to  be  capa- 
ble of  being  the  religion  of  the  human  race.t 

But  it  will  be  said,  if  a  positive  religion  cannot  be  uni- 

*  By  a  positive  religion,  the  author  means  one  which  is  clothed  in  set 
forms,  which  consists  of  specific  articles,  —  or  what,  in  theological  phrase, 
ia  sometimes  called  dogmatic.  T. 

t  When  Robespierre,  who  with  all  his  enormities,  had  some  political  sa- 
gacity, saw  the  havoc  which  atheism  was  working  in  France,  he  induced 
the  Convention,  which  had  abolished  all  forms  of  religion,  to  restore  the 
doctrines  of  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  and  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  The  reign  of  absolute  infidelity,  and  the  worship  of  reason,  in  the  per- 
son of  a  beautiful  but  lewd  woman,  brought  from  one  of  the  brothels  of  Paris, 
was  of  short  duration.  But  deism,  in  a  positive  form,  could  not  be  estab- 
lished by  all  the  efforts  of  the  government,  backed  by  the  philosophers. 
The  theophilanthropists,  as  they  called  themselves,  aided  by  the  public 
funds,  opened  some  fifteen  or  twenty  churches,  delivered  orations,  and 
sang  hymns,  in  honor  of  the  Deity,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but 
the  attendance  became  less  and  less,  and  the  interest,  even  of  those  who 
were  most  enthusiastic  in  the  project,  gradually  declined.  So  that,  by  the 
end  of  1795,  scarcely  a  vestige  of  an  organized  system  of  religious  belief 
and  worship  remained  in  France.  The  whole  scheme  was  abandoned  as 
hopeless.  JNo !  Deism  cannot  be  established  as  a  positive  religion.  It 
fails  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  human  soul;  it  gives  no  assurance  of  the 
divine  favor,  and  supplies  no  pledge  of  a  blessed  immortality.  T. 


THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  93 

versal,  at  least  it  may  regain  on  the  side  of  time  what  it 
loses  on  the  side  of  space.  Suppose  this  granted ;  but  it 
must  be  acknowledged,  that  it  is  only  half  of  the  condition 
we  have  proposed.  We  have  not  spoken  of  all  times  only, 
but  of  all  places  ;  so  that  after  we  have  been  shown  a  posi- 
tive religion,  mistress  of  a  corner  of  the  globe,  from  the 
origin  of  the  world  till  now,  we  should  have  a  right  to 
reject  such  an  example.  We  accept  it,  nevertheless,  by 
way  of  accommodation,  and  for  want  of  a  better.  There  are 
religious  doctrines  of  an  amazing  antiquity.  With  some 
variations  in  the  details,  the  elementary  principles  are  per- 
manent, and  these  appear  unchangeable,  as  the  physical 
constitution  of  the  nation  that  professes  them,  immovable 
as  the  soil  that  bears  them.  If  they  are  destitute  of  uni- 
versality, perpetuity  ought,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  be  accord- 
ed to  them.  But  are  they  competent,  as  I  have  required, 
to  serve  as  a  moral  force ;  and  are  they  favorable  to  the 
natural  and  progressive  development  of  the  human  race  ? 
No ;  some  of  them  have  no  harmony  with  life  ;  others  per- 
vert the  heart,  and  the  social  relations ;  and  all  of  them 
chain  the  mind  in  immovable  forms.  All  present  the  phe- 
nomenon of  a  people,  who,  surprised,  as  one  might  believe, 
by  a  sudden  congelation,  preserve,  in  the  most  advanced 
periods  of  their  existence,  the  attitude,  manners,  opinions, 
costume,  institutions,  language,  in  a  word,  the  whole 
manner  of  life,  in  the  midst  of  which  they  were  seized  by 
that  sudden  catalepsy.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  any  one 
claims  that  it  is  the  spirit  of  the  people  that  has  deter- 
mined their  faith,  and  that  their  manners  have  made  their 
religion,  then  this  religion  is  not  such  as  we  have  required, 
namely,  a  doctrine  capable  of  influencing  the  life,  and 
determining  the  conduct. 

In  going  over  the  different  known  religions  which  divide 
the  nations,  we  shall  find  none  that  meets  all  the  conditions 
we  have  laid  down.  Mohammedism,  beside?  owing  its 


94  THE    GENIUS   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

progress  to  the  power  of  the  sword,  fails  to  favor  the  pro- 
gressive advancement  of  the  human  mind,  nay  more, 
represses  it.  It  is  not  suited  to  penetrate  into  all  countries  ; 
because  it  necessarily  carries  along  with  it  polygamy  and 
despotism,  antagonisms  of  civilization.  The  religion  of 
Hindostan  fails  to  be  moral,  and  is  unfavorable  to  culture 
and  liberty ;  every  where  it  would  need  its  own  earth  and 
sky,  for  which  alone  it  is  made.  Universality  is  equally 
wanting  to  the  Jewish  religion  ;  for  it  does  not  desire  it,  nay 
more,  repels  it.  It  is  a  religion  entirely  national  and  local ; 
beyond  Palestine  it  is  exiled.  The  deficiency  which  exists 
in  all  the  religions  we  have  just  named,  exists  also  in  all 
others. -"They  want  universality,  perpetuity,  morality,  and 
sympathy  with  progress. ,,_ 

Such  already  is  the  answer  to  the  question  we  have  pro- 
posed .;  for  no  positive  religion  is  found  which  has  united 
all  the  conditions  enumerated.  We  may  say,  with  some 
degree  of  confidence,  that  such  a  thing  is  not  possible.  If 
it  were,  would  it  not  have  happened  ?  And  if  it  has  not 
happened,  will  it  ever  happen  ? 

But  even  in  consulting  the  nature  of  things,  independent 
of  the  teachings  of  history,  the  same  answer  will  be  ob- 
tained. No  man  can  give  a  religion  to  humanity.  If 
natural  religion  be  referred  to,  it  is  nature  that  gives  it ;  and 
all  that  a  man  can  do  is  to  give  form  to  its  dogmas,  by 
reducing  its  teachings  to  order ;  he  can  only  restore  to 
humanity  what  he  has  received  from  it.  But,  is  it  a  posi- 
tive religion  which  is  referred  to ;  one,  I  mean,  the  dogmas 
of  which  human  reason  could  not,  of  itself,  have  discovered? 
Then,  I  ask,  what  elevation  of  heart,  of  imagination,  of 
reason,  what  stretch  of  genius,  what  wondrous  divination, 
are  supposed  to  belong  to  a  man,  to  admit  that  the  dogmas 
of  his  invention,  the  dogmas  which  nature  has  not  given, 
shall  be  received  in  all  countries,  shall  preserve  their  adap- 
tation in  all  times,  shall  be  applicable  to  all  the  conditions 


THE    GENIUS   OF   THE    GOSPEL.  95 

of  humanity  and  of  society,  in  a  word,  shall  be  able  to 
constitute,  and  shall  actually  constitute,  the  religion  of  the 
human  race ! 

It  is  with  some  degree  of  inconsiderateness  that  some 
men  are  spoken  of  as  advancing  beyond  their  age,  and 
impressing  their  own  individual  character  upon  generations. 
These  are,  most  of  the  time,  men  who  have,  better  than 
others,  understood,  reduced  into  forms  more  precise,  and 
expressed  with  greater  energy,  the  dominant  opinions  of 
their  era.  They  have  proved  what  their  age  carried  in  its 
bosom.  They  have  concentrated,  in  the  burning-glass 
their  genius,  the  rays  of  truth,  which,  scattered  in  the  world, 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  set  it  on  fire.  But  their  genius, 
the  faithful  and  powerful  expression  of  a  time  and  a  coun- 
try, which  have  made  them  what  they  are,  cannot  be  as 
vast  as  the  genius  of  humanity.  Men  have  done  the  work 
of  men,  partial,  relative,  limited.  But  let  an  individual, 
isolating  himself  from  his  country,  from  his  time,  nay  more, 
from  his  individuality,  divine  the  fact,  the  idea,  the  doctrine 
which  shall  renew,  convert,  and  vivify  mankind  in  all  times 
and  in  all  places, — such  an  one  is  not  a  man,  he  is  a  God ! 

Observe  particularly  that  I  do  not  require  that  his  relig- 
ion shall  become,  in  fact,  the  religion  of  all  times,  of  all 
places,  and  of  all  men.  In  the  first  instance,  he  must  have 
time  to  establish  it ;  and  we  do  not  claim  that  at  the  begin- 
ning of  its  career  it  shall  conquer  the  whole  world.  Further, 
we  have  not  all  time  before  us  ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  future 
fate  of  the  world  cannot  be  fully  ascertained,  we  are  not 
able  to  say  with  precision  that  a  thing  is  of  all  time. 
Finally,  all  true  religion  supposes  freedom,  and  freedom 
supposes  the  possibility  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  individ- 
uals. We  shall  demand  only,  and  the  matter  must  be 
thoroughly  understood,  that  a  sufficient  number  of  experi- 
ments have  proved  that  the  doctrine  in  question  is  such 
that  no  climate,  no  degree  of  culture,  no  form  of  politics, 


96  THE    GENIUS   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

no  circumstances  of  time  or  place,  no  physical  or  moral 
constitution,  a  barrier  to  it,  are  a  fatal  limit  which  it  cannot 
pass ;  or,  to  express  ourselves  more^b*neSy,  that  it  corre- 
spond to  the  universal  and  permanent  wants  of  humanity, 
independent  of  all  accidental,  temporary  and  local  circum- 
stances. 

If  there  is  a  religion  of  God  upon  the  earth,  it  ought  to 
have  this  character  of  universality  and  perpetuity.  For 
who  can  doubt  that  the  love  of  God  embraces  all  mankind ; 
or  suppose  that  he  could  not  speak  to  all  mankind?  In  such 
a  case,  God  cannot  have  in  view  one  time,  one  country,  one 
people  only,  but  all  who  possess  the  heart  of  humanity. 
When  he  speaks,  it  is  for  the  whole  human  race.  Should 
it  please  him  to  distinguish  one  nation  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  it  would  yet  be  for  the  sake  of  the  human 
family.  What  he  might  say  to  that  people  in  particular, 
would  not  have  an  infinite  and  eternal  range ;  that  alone 
would  be  invested  with  such  a  character,  which,  through 
that  separate  nation,  would  be  addressed  to  universal 
humanity.  His  revelation  would  not.constitute  the  fleeting 
existence  of  one  nation,  except,  by  this  means,  to  form  a 
people  taken  out  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  a  spiritual 
people,  a  nation  of  holy  souls. 

We  return,  then,  to  the  proposition,  and  say :  If  such  a 
religion  exists,  it  must  be  from  God.  It  is  on  this  ground, 
that  is  to  say,  its  universality,  that  we  have  already  acknowl- 
edged natural  religion  to  be  from  him.  But  if,  besides 
natural  religion,  there  is  in  the  world  a  positive  religion, 
invested  with  the  character  we  have  in  view,  we  maintain 
that  it  also  is  from  God.  Because  it  belongs  to  God  alone 
to  form  an  adequate  conception  of  man,  whom  he  has  made, 
and  meet  the  wants  of  his  entire  nature ;  because,  in  con- 
sequence of  this,  God  only  knows  how  to  speak  to  man  ; 
because  he  is  confined  to  no  places,  and  restricted  by  no 
circumstances.  And  if  the  arbitrary  appearance  of  the 


THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  97 

principles  of  a  positive  religion  arrests  our  attention,  let  us 
reflect  that  what  is  necessary  for  God,  and  a  consequence 
of  his  nature,  may  very  well  appear  arbitrary  to  us ;  and 
that  what  is  strange  and  unexpected  in  his  revelations,  is 
not  less  the  necessary  and  indispensable  result  of  his  per- 
fections, the  faithful  and  spontaneous  imprint  of  his  char- 
acter and  relations  to  the  world. 

Let  us,  then,  hold  for  certain,  that  if  there  is  in  the  world 
a  positive  religion,  which,  fitted  to  control  the  life,  and 
favorable  to  the  progressive  advancement  of  the  human 
mind,  finds  no  limits  in  any  circumstances  of  time  and  place, 
such  a  religion  is  from  God. 

This  being  settled,  let  us  inquire,  if  there  is  such  a 
religion. 

A  little  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  a  man 
appeared  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  world.     I  do  not  say,j 
that  a  long  succession  of  predictions  had  announced  the  I 
advent  of  this   man ;  that  a  long  train  of  miracles  had    j 
marked,  with  a  divine  seal,  the  nation  from  which  he  was   / 
to  spring,  and  the  word  itself  which  announced  him  ;  that   \ 
from  the  heights  of  a  far  distant  future  he  had  projected  his     ) 
shadow  to  the  feet  of  our  first  parents  exiled  from  Paradise ;    1 
in  a  word,  that  he  was  encircled  and  authenticated  by  an 
imposing  array  of  proofs.     I  only  say  that  he  preached;""  ' 
a  religion.     It  is  not  natural  religion; — the  doctrines  of 
the  existence  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul  are 
every  where  taken  for  granted   in  his    words,  but  never 
proved.      They  do  not   consist   of    ideas    deduced   from 
the   primitive   concessions    of  reason.     What  he  teaches, 
what  forms   the    foundation  and   essence  of  his  system, 
are    things    which    confound    reason ;    things    to   which 
reason  can  find  no  access.     It  proclaims  a  God  upon  earth, 
a  God  man,  a  God  poor,  a  God  crucified.     It  proclaims 
vengeance  overwhelming  the  innocent,  pardon  raising  the 
guilty  from  the  deepest  condemnation,  God  himself  the 
victim  of  man,  and  man  forming  one  and  the  same  person 


98  THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

with  God.  It  proclaims  a  new  birth,  without  which  man 
cannot  be  saved.  It  proclaims  the  sovereignty  of  the  grace 
of  God,  and  the  entire  freedom  of  man.^ 

I  do  not  soften  its  teachings.  I  present  them  in  their 
naked  form.  I  seek  not  to  justify  them.  No, — you  can, 
if  you  will,  be  astonished  and  alarmed  at  these  strange 
dogmas; — do  not  spare  yourselves  in  this  particular.  But 
when  you  have  wondered  sufficiently  at  their  strangeness, 
I  shall  present  another  thing  for  your  astonishment.  These 
strange  doctrines  have  conquered  the  world !  Scarcely 
made  known  in  poor  Judea,  they  took  possession  of  learned 
Athens,  gorgeous  Corinth,  and  proud  Rome.  They  found 
confessors  in  shops,  in  prisons,  and  in  schools,  on  tribunals 
and  on  thrones.  Vanquishers  of  civilization,  they  triumphed 
over  barbarism.  They  caused  to  pass  under  the  same  yoke 
the  degraded  Roman  and  the  savage  Scandinavian.  The 
forms  of  social  life  have  changed, — society  has  been  dis- 

*  When  our  author  speaks  of  God  as  a  victim,  and  subjected  to  suffering, 
he  must  always  be  understood  as  referring  to  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
that  is,  to  Jesus  Christ  in  his  whole  nature  as  human  and  divine.  Some,  I 
know,  object  to  such  expressions  as  those  in  the  text,  as  being  unphilo- 
sophical  and  unscriptural.  But  in  this  they  may  be  mistaken.  Our 
philosophy  of  the  divine  nature  is  exceedingly  shallow  and  imperfect. 
God  is  not  the  cold  and  impassive  Being  which  it  too  often  represents 
him.  Perfect  and  ever  blessed  he  certainly  is ;  but  that  he  is  incapable 
of  every  thing  like  sentiment  or  emotion,  is  exceedingly  questionable. 
Such  is  not  the  view  given  of  him  in  the  Scriptures.  Are  we  not 
expressly  informed  that  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  that  he  might  suffer 
death  for  every  man,  and  that  it  behoved  him  in  all  things  to  be  made 
like  unto  his  brethren  1  If  he  suffered  at  all,  did  not  his  whole  being 
suffer  ?  Was  there  not  a  profound  and  mysterious  sympathy  between  his 
human  and  his  divine  natures  ?  How  else  can  we  accounj  for  the  infinite 
value  and  efficacy  attached  to  his  sufferings  and  death  ?  How  else  explain 
the  adoring  reverence  of  the  primitive  church  in  view  of  his  agony  in  the 
garden  and  on  the  cross  ?  Besides,  suffering  is  by  no  means  an  evidence 
of  imperfection;  nay,  the  experience  of  it  may  be  necessary  to  the  highest 
felicity,  on  the  part  even  of  pure  and  perfect  natures.  In  this  respect  the 
sinless  and  adorable  Saviour  was  made  perfect  through  sufferings,  as  much, 
perhaps,  for  his  own  sake  as  for  ours.  But  this  is  a  subject  which  philoso- 
phy does  not  understand;  and  we  can  only  say  devoutly,  "  Great  is  the  mys- 
tery of  godliness  5  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh  !"  T. 


THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  99 

solved  and  renewed, — these  have  endured.  Nay  more,  the 
church  which  professed  them,  has  endeavored  to  diminish 
their  power,  by  beginning  to  corrupt  their  purity.  Mistress 
of  traditions  and  depositary  of  knowledge,  she  has  used  her 
advantages  against  the  doctrines  she  ought  to  have  de- 
fended; but  they  have  endured.  Every  where,  and  at  all 
times,  in  cottages  and  in  palaces,  have  they  found  souls  to 
whom  a  Redeemer  was  precious  and  regeneration  neces- 
sary. Moreover,  no  other  system,  philosophical  or  religious, 
has  endured.  Each  made  its  own  era,  and  each  era  had 
its  own  idea ;  and,  as  a  celebrated  writer  has  developed 
it,  the  religious  sentiment,  left  to  itself,  selected  forms 
adapted  to  the  time,  which  it  broke  to  pieces  when  that 
time  had  passed  away.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  con- 
tinued to  re-appear.  If  it  had  been  embraced  only  by  one 
class  of  persons,  that  even  were  much,  that  perhaps  were 
inexplicable ;  but  you  find  the  followers  of  the  cross  among 
soldiers  and  citizens,  among  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  bold 
and  the  timid,  the  wise  and  the  ignorant.  This  doctrine  is 
adapted  to  all,  every  where,  and  in  all  times.  It  never 
grows  old.  Those  who  embrace  it  never  find  themselves 
behind  their  age ;  they  understand  it,  they  are  understood  by 
it ;  they  advance  with  it,  and  aid  its  progress.  The  relig- 
ion of  the  cross  appears  no  where  disproportionate  to  civili- 
zation. On  the  contrary,  civilization  advances  in  vain ;  it 
always  finds  Christianity  before  it. 

Do  not  suppose  that  Christianity,  in  order  to  place  itself 
in  harmony  with  the  age,  will  complacently  leave  out  a 
single  idea.  It  is  from  its  inflexibility  that  it  is  strong;  it 
has  no  need  to  give  up  any  thing  in  order  to  be  in  harmony 
with  whatever  is  beautiful,  legitimate  and  true;  for  Chris- 
tianity is  itself  the  type  of  perfection.  It  is  the  same  to-day 
as  in  the  time  of  the  Reformers,  in  the  time  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  church,  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles  and  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Nevertheless  it  is  not  a  religion  which  flatters 


100  THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

the  natural  man;  and  worldlings,  in  keeping  at  a  distance 
from  it,  furnish  sufficient  evidence  that  Christianity  is  a 
system  foreign  to  their  natures.  Those  who  dare  not 
reject  it,  are  forced  to  soften  it  down.  They  divest  it  of  its 
barbarisms,  its  myths,  as  they  are  pleased  to  call  them; 
they  render  it  even  reasonable, — but,  strange  to  say,  when 
it  is  reasonable,  it  has  no  power ;  and  in  this,  is  like  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  creatures  in  the  animal  world, 
which,  when  it  loses  its  sting,  dies.  Zeal,  fervor,  holiness, 
and  love  disappear  with  these  strange  doctrines;  the  salt 
has  lost  its  savor,  and  none  can  tell  how  to  restore  it.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  do  you  not,  in  general,  perceive  when 
there  is  a  revival  of  these  doctrines,  Christianity  is  inspired 
with  new  life,  faith  is  re-animated  and  zeal  abounds  ?  Do 
not  ask,  Upon  what  soil,  or  in  what  system,  must  grow 
these  precious  plants?  You  can  reply  in  advance,  that  it 
is  only  in  the  rude  and  rough  soil  of  orthodoxy,  under  the 
shadow  of  those  mysteries  which  confound  human  reason, 
and  from  which  it  loves  to  remove  as  far  as  possible. 

This,  then,  among  all  religions,  is  the  only  one  which  is 
eternally  young.  But  perhaps  physical  nature  will  do 
what  moral  nature  cannot.  Perhaps  climates  will  arrest 
that  angel  which  carries  the  everlasting  gospel  through 
the  heavens.  Perhaps  a  certain  corporeal  organization  may 
be  necessary  for  the  reception  of  the  truth.  But  you  may 
pass  with  it  from  Europe  to  Africa,  from  Ethiopia  to 
Greenland,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Southern  sea.  Every 
where  will  this  message  be  heard;  every  where  fill  an 
acknowledged  void ;  every  where  perfect  and  renew  the 
life.  The  soul  of  the  negro  slave  receives  from  it  the 
same  impressions  as  the  soul  of  Isaac  Newton.  The  lofty 
intelligence  of  the  one  and  the  stupidity  of  the  other  have, 
at  least,  one  great  thought  in  common.  And  let  it  be  well 
remarked,  the  effects  are  every  where  the  same.  The 
cross  sheds  a  light  that  illumines  all.  As  if  by  instinct, 


THE    GENIUS    OF   THE    GOSPEL.  101 

not  by  painful  reasoning-,  they  reach,  every  where,  the 
same  conclusions,  recognize  the  same  duties,  and,  in  differ- 
ent forms,  commence  the  same  life.  Wherever  Christianity 
is  introduced,  civilized  man  draws  nearer  to  nature,  while 
the  savage  rises  towards  civilization ;  each  in  his  turn,  and 
in  an  inverse  sense,  makes  some  steps  towards  a  common 
centre,  which  is  that  of  true  sociability  and  true  civilization. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  objected,  that  this  civilizing  power  of 
Christianity  is  found  only  in  the  sublime  morality  of  the 
gospel ;  and  that  it  is  not  by  the  positive  doctrines,  but 
rather  in  spite  of  them,  that  savages  are  converted,  and 
then  civilized.  This  assertion  is  false  in  whatever  aspect 
it  may  be  viewed. 

In  readily  conceding  to  the  evangelical  morality  a 
decided  superiority  to  all  other  systems  of  morals,  we  wish 
it  to  be  observed,  that  this  superiority  holds  less  with  refer- 
ence to  the  precepts,  than  their  basis  or  motives;  in  other 
words,  the  mysterious  and  divine  facts  which  distinguish 
Christianity  as  a  positive  religion.  The  gospel  has  not 
invented  morality;  many  of  its  finest  maxims  were,  for  a 
long  time  previous,  in  circulation  in  the  world.  The 
gospel  has  not  so  much  promulged  them,  as  placed  them 
on  a  new  foundation,  and  quickened  them  by  a  new  spirit. 
The  glory  of  the  gospel  consists  less  in  announcing  a 
new  morality,  than  in  giving  power  to  practise  the  old. 

But  let  us  not  dispute.  We  admit  that  the  morality  of 
the  gospel  contains  many  things  absolutely  new;  but  it  must 
be  conceded  that  there  was  in  the  world,  and  particularly 
in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  sages,  as  fine  a  morality; 
and  that,  if  morality  has  a  power  within  itself,  an  intrinsic 
virtue,  we  should  expect  to  see  practice  in  some  proportion 
to  theory.  But  in  former  times,  now,  and  always,  in  each 
man,  and  in  humanity  generally,  we  are  struck  with  a 
singular  disparity  between  principles  and  conduct ;  and  are 
constrained  to  acknowledge,  that  in  this  sphere,  at  least, 
9 


102  THE    GENIUS    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

what  is  done  responds  poorly  to  what  is  known ;  and  that 
the  life  by  no  means  harmonizes  with  convictions.  The 
knowledge  of  morality  is  not  morality;  and  the  science  of 
duty  is  not  the  practice  of  duty. 

These  general  remarks  are  fully  confirmed  by  the  his- 
tory of  the  evangelization  of  the  heathen.  If  one  fact  is 
known  and  acknowledged,  it  is  that  it  has  never  been  by 
the  preaching  of  morality, — not  even  of  evangelical  moral- 
ity,— that  their  hearts  have  been  gained.  Nay,  it  is  not 
more  so  by  the  teaching  of  natural  religion.  Pious  Chris- 
tians, deceiving  themselves  on  this  point,  wished  to  conduct 
the  people  of  Greenland  methodically  by  natural  to  revealed 
religion.  As  long  as  they  rested  in  these  first  elements, 
their  preaching  did  not  affect,  did  not  gain  a  single  soul; 
but  the  moment  that,  casting  away  their  human  method, 
they  decided  to  follow  that  of  Christ  and  of  God,  the  bar- 
riers fell  before  them,  and  once  more  the  folly  of  the 
cross  was  found  to  be  wiser  than  the  wisdom  of  man. 
The  schools  teach  us  to  proceed  from  the  known  to  the 
unknown,  from  the  simple  to  the  composite;  but  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  things  occur  which  derange  all  our  ideas. 
There  we  must  begin  at  once  with  the  unknown,  the  com- 
posite, the  extraordinary.  It  is  from  revealed  religion  that 
man  ascends  to  natural  religion.  He  is  transported  at  a 
single  bound  into  the  centre  of  mysteries.  He  is  shown 
God-man,  God  crucified,  before  he  is  shown  God  in  glory. 
He  is  shown  the  mass  before  the  details,  the  end  before 
the  beginning.  Do  you  wish  to  know  why  ?  It  is  that 
the  true  road  to  knowledge  in  religion  is  not  from  God  to 
man,  but  from  man  to  God ;  that  before  knowing  himself 
he  cannot  know  God ;  that  the  view  of  his  misery,  and  of 
his  sins,  conducts  him  to  the  atonement,  and  the  atonement 
reveals  to  him,  in  their  fullness,  the  perfections  of  his 
Creator.  It  is,  to  repeat  the  celebrated  saying  of  Augus- 
tine, that  "  man  must  descend  into  the  hell  of  his  own 


THE    GENIUS    OF   THE    GOSPEL.  103 

heart,  before  he  can  ascend  to  the  heaven  of  God."  The 
Christian  religion  is  not  merely  the  knowledge  of  God,  but 
the  knowledge  of  the  relations  of  man  with  God.  It  is  the 
view  of  these  relations  which  sheds  the  most  light  upon 
the  character  and  attributes  of  God  himself.  And  hence  it 
is  quite  correct  to  say  that  revealed  religion,  which  is 
precisely  the  discovery  of  these  relations,  conducts  to  natu- 
ral religion,  namely,  to  that  which  is  more  elementary,  to 
the  idea  of  the  infinite,  whence  natural  religion  is  derived, 
to  religious  feeling  and  the  conceptions  which  are  called 
natural,  but  which  ought  to  be  called  supernatural.  These 
are,  ordinarily,  but  little  familiar,  seldom  present,  and  not 
altogether  natural  to  our  minds.  In  fact,  how  many  men 
has  the  gospel  taken  from  the  depths  of  materialism, 
and  conducted,  by  the  way  of  Christian  doctrine,  to  a 
belief  in  the  existence  of  God,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.* 

It  is,  then,  the  doctrines,  the  mysteries,  the  paradoxes  of 
the  gospel,  we  must  carry  to  the  savage,  if  we  would  gain 
his  heart  to  natural  religion,  from  which  he  is  estranged, 
and  to  pure  morality,  of  which  he  knows  still  less.  But 
even  if  our  adversaries  could  reverse  all  this,  they  would 
not  the  less  remain  under  the  pressure  of  an  overwhelming 

*The  following,  taken  from  the  Biblical  Repository,  Vol.  1,  second 
series,  p.  383,  is  a  striking  illustration  of  what  our  author  asserts  >— 

"Francis  Junius,  whom,  at  his  death,  it  was  remarked  by  Scaliger, 
the  whole  world  lamented  as  its  instructer,  was  recovered  from 
atheism,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  by  simply  perusing  St.  John  1 :  1 — 5. 
Persuaded  by  his  father  to  read  the  New  Testament,  'At  first  sight/  he 
says, '  1  fell  unexpectedly  on  that  august  chapter  of  St.  John  the  evange- 
list, "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,"  &c.  I  read  part  of  the  chapter, 
and  was  so  struck  with  what  I  read,  that  I  instantly  perceived  the  divinity 
of  the  subject,  and  the  authority  and  majesty  of  the  Scripture  to  surpass 
greatly  all  human  eloquence.  I  shuddered  in  my  body,  my  mind  was 
confounded,  and  I  was  so  strongly  affected  all  that  day,  that  I  hardly  knew 
who  I  myself  was;  but  thou,  Lord  my  God,  didst  remember  me  in  thy 
boundless  mercy,  and  receive  me,  a  lost  sheep,  into  thy  fold."' 


104  THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

difficulty.  If  natural  religion  and  morality  suffice  to  make 
converts,  will  they  not  suffice  also  to  make  preachers? 
Find  us,  among  those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  positive 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  men  disposed  to  undertake  that 
laborious  and  dangerous  mission.  Come,  let  the  philoso- 
phers and  rationalists  bestir  themselves ;  let  us  see  their 
faith  by  their  works;  let  their  zeal  serve  to  prove,  to 
corroborate  their  system ;  let  them,  from  love  of  morality 
and  natural  religion,  quit  parents,  friends,  fortune,  habits, 
plunge  into  ancient  forests,  traverse  burning  plains  of  sand, 
brave  the  influences  of  a  deadly  climate,  in  order  to  reach, 
convert  and  save  some  souls  !  Might  they  not  do  for  the 
kingdom  of  God  half  of  what  so  many  courageous  travellers 
have  done  and  suffered  for  science,  or  the  temporal  pros- 
perity of  their  country  ?  What !  no  one  stir  !  no  one  even 
feel !  This  appeal  has  not  moved  a  single  soul  of  those 
friends  of  religion  and  morality,  for  whom  the  cross  is  folly ! 
Why,  it  would  appear  that  they  had  no  love  for  God,  no 
care  for  souls,  none  of  the  pious  proselytism  found  among 
the  partizans  of  the  strange  doctrines  of  the  fall  of  man, 
a  bloody  expiation,  and  a  new  birth  !  My  brethren,  does 
this  evidence  satisfy  you,  and  do  you  believe  that  there 
can  be  any  other  means,  than  by  these  doctrines,  of  estab- 
lishing the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth  ?  Thus  Chris- 
tianity is  clearly  the  positive  religion,  which  combines  all 
the  conditions  enumerated  in  our  question. 

These  are  not  arguments  we  present  to  the  adversaries 
of  Christianity ;  they  are  facts.  They  have  only  to  recog- 
nize this  striking  characteristic  of  Christianity,  to  see,  with 
us,  that  angel  who  flies  through  the  heavens,  having  the 
everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  all  that  dwell  upon  the 
earth,  and  to  every  tribe,  and  tongue,  and  people.  These 
are  facts  which  we  claim  to  offer  them.  If  they  are  false, 
let  them  be  proved  so.  If  they  are  true,  let  any  one  dis- 
pute the  conclusion,  if  he  can.  Let  him  explain  by  natural 


THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  105 

causes,  a  phenomenon  unique  in  its  kind.  Let  him  assign,  if 
he  can,  a  limit  to  that  power,  that  influence  of  Christianity. 
But  will  any  one  give  himself  the  trouble  of  doing  this  ? 
In  truth,  it  is  more  easy  to  shut  the  eyes,  and,  repeating 
with  confidence  some  hearsays,  to  assure  us  that,  according 
to  the  best  information,  Christianity  has  gone  by ;  that  it 
has  had  its  era  to  make,  and  has  made  it, — its  part  to  play, 
and  has  played  it ;  and  that  "  the  only  homage  we  can 
render  it  now,  is  to  throw  flowers  upon  its  tomb."  This 
tomb  would  be  that  of  the  human  race.  Christianity  yet 
preserves  the  world  from  the  wrath  of  God.  It  is,  perhaps, 
with  a  view  to  its  propagation,  that  events  are  pressisg 
onward,  and  that  nations  are  agitated  with  a  fearful  crisis. 
Shall  a  few  skeptics,  with  frivolous  hearts,  give  the  lie  to 
the  most  high  God,  and  the  immense  pressure  of  circum- 
stances prove  a  false  standard  of  providence  ?  Let  us 
pray  for  the  progress  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  and  the 
conversion  of  those  proud  spirits  who,  till  now,  have 
disdained  to  recognize  it.  Let  us  pray  that  it  may  con- 
stantly become  more  precious  to  ourselves,  and  that  its 
laws  may  be  as  sacred  as  its  promises  are  sweet. 
9* 


VI. 


NATURAL  FAITH. 

"  Blessed  are  they  tliat  have  not  seen,  and  yet  liave  "believed." 
JOHN  20:  29. 

THE  apostles  did  not  profess  to  convey  to  the  world  any 
thing  but  a  message,  good  news,  the  news  of  that  fact  which 
the  angels  announced  to  the  shepherds  of  Bethlehem,  in 
these  words :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  on  earth  peace, 
good-will  to  men  !"  Faithful,  but  not  indifferent  messen- 
gers, deeply  moved  themselves,  by  the  good  news  they 
carried  to  the  world,  they  spoke  of  it  with  all  the  warmth 
of  joy  and  love.  Preachers  of  righteousness,  they  urged 
with  force,  the  practical  consequences  of  the  facts  they 
announced,  and  in  their  admirable  instructions,  a  leading 
sentiment,  gratitude,  was  expanded  into  a  multitude  of 
duties  and  virtues,  the  combination  of  which  forms  the 
purest  morality.  Bat  at  this  point,  their  ministry  termina- 
ted ;  and  certainly  they  made  no  pretension  of  introducing 
a  new  philosophy  into  the  world.  Nevertheless,  they  have 
done  so,  and  those,  who  in  modern  times,  devote  themselves 
to  ascertain  what  ideas  are  concealed  under  the  great  facts 
of  the  gospel,  to  penetrate  into  its  spirit,  and,  if  we  may  so 
express  ourselves,  construct  the  system  of  it,  cannot  refrain 


NATURAL   FAITH.  107 

from  admiration,  while  reflecting  on  the  connection  of 
parts  or  that  great  whole,  their  perfect  harmony  with  one 
another,  and  the  harmony  of  each,  with  the  permanent 
characteristics  and  inextinguishable  wants  of  human  nature. 
This  philosophical  character  of  the  gospel  would  have 
been  striking,  even  if  the  apostles  had  appeared  to 
impress  it  voluntarily  upon  their  instructions;  but  how 
much  more  is  this  the  case,  and  how  well  fitted  to  make  us 
perceive  the  divinity  of  the  gospel,  when  we  see  that  its 
writers  had  no  consciousness  of  the  fact,  and  that  it  was  in 
spite  of  themselves,  so  to  speak,  that  it  was  stamped  upon 
their  work !  This  philosophical  character  would  be  striking 
even  in  a  simple  religion,  one  apparently  rational,  approach- 
ing, in  a  word,  to  natural  religion,  as  much  as  a  positive  one 
can ;  but  how  much  more  striking  it  is,  when  we  consider 
that  this  religion  is  a  complete  tissue  of  strange  doctrines, 
the  first  view  of  which  appals  the  reason.  If  these  doctrines, 
so  arbitrary  in  appearance,  involve  ideas  eminently  natural, 
and  a  system  perfectly  consistent,  who  will  not  be  struck 
with  it ;  and  who  will  not  wish  to  ascertain,  by  what  secret, 
reason  the  most  sublime  springs  from  the  folly  of  the  cross, 
philosophy  from  dogma,  and  light  from  mystery  ? 

No  where,  as  it  appears  to  us,  is  this  philosophical 
character  of  Christianity  so  vividly  impressed,  as  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  gospel  concerning  faith.  Not  only  is  the 
general  necessity  of  faith  recognized,  as  in  all  religions  ; 
but  this  principle  holds  a  place  in  it,  enjoys  an  importance, 
and  exhibits  effects,  which  prove  that  the  gospel  alone  has 
seized  the  principle  in  all  its  force,  and  applied  it  in  all  its 
extent ;  in  a  word,  that  it  alone  has  thoroughly  discovered, 
and  fully  satisfied  the  wants  of  human  nature.  The 
following  proposition,  then,  will  form  a  subject  worthy  of 
our  attention.  The  religions  of  man,  and  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,-  are,  with  reference  to  the  principle  of  faith, 
philosophically  true,  with  this  exception,  that  in  the  first, 


108  NATURAL   FAITH. 

there  is  only  a  feeble  and  unprofitable  beginning  of  truth, 
and  in  the  second,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  found 
in  all  its  plenitude,  and  all  its  power.  To  prove  this 
proposition,  we  propose  to  develop,  in  its  various  applica- 
tions, the  language  of  our  Saviour :  "  Blessed  are  they 
who  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed." 

I  remark,  first,  that  human  religions  have  rendered 
homage  to  philosophical  truth,  in  placing  faith  at  their 
foundation ;  or  rather,  that  they  are  themselves  a  homage 
to  that  truth,  inasmuch  as,  by  their  existence  alone,  they 
have  proclaimed  the  necessity  and  dignity  of  faith.  This 
is  the  first  idea  we  have  to  develop. 

The  necessity  and  dignity  of  faith;  —  nothing  can  be 
more  philosophical,  nothing  more  reasonable  than  this  idea. 
And  yet,  if  we  are  to  believe  vulgar  declamation,  and  the 
sayings  of  people  of  the  world,  faith  can  be  the  portion  only 
of  weak  minds  and  diseased  imaginations.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is,  in  a  certain  degree,  the  common  heritage  of  the  human 
race ;  and  in  the  highest  degree,  the  peculiar  gift  of  eleva- 
ted characters,  of  noble  spirits,  and  the  source  of  whatever 
in  the  world  bears  the  impress  of  greatness. 

The  entire  life  of  man,  considered  in  its  essence,  is 
composed  of  three  things,  thought,  feeling,  action.  Feeling 
is  the  motive  of  action ;  knowledge  is  the  point  of  departure 
for  both,  and  therefore  is  the  basis  of  life.  From  this  every 
thing  proceeds,  to  this  every  thing  returns.  Before  all, 
it  is  necessary  to  know;  but  the  first  glance  enables  us  to 
see  how  little  proportion  there  is  between  the  means  of 
knowledge  and  the  multiplicity  of  its  objects.  It  is  impos- 
sible, indeed,  that  we  should  see  every  thing,  and  have 
experience,  in  all  the  cases,  in  which  knowledge  is  desirable. 
A  vast  chasm,  then,  very  frequently  extends  between 
knowledge  and  action;  over  that  abyss  a  bridge  is  thrown 
by  faith,  which,  resting  on  a  given  fact,  upon  a  primary 
notion,  extends  itself  over  the  void,  and  conveys  us  to  the 


NATURAL   FAITH.  109 

other  side.  Some  kind  of  experience,  physical  or  moral,  a 
view  external,  or  internal,  of  observation  or  intuition,  is  the 
point  of  departure,  or  the  reason  of  faith.  This  first  fact 
itself  neither  demands  nor  requires  faith ;  but  its  conse- 
quences, its  logical  deductions,  are  not  embodied,  do  not 
become  a  reality  for  man  but  by  means  of  faith,  which 
presents  them  to  his  mind,  and  constructs  for  him  a  world 
beyond  that  which  personal  experience  has  revealed. 

We  are  accustomed  to  oppose  reason  and  faith  to  each 
other ;  we  ought  rather  to  say,  that  the  one  perfects  the 
other,  and  that  they  are  two  pillars,  one  of  which  could 
not,  without  the  other,  sustain  life.  Man  is  pitied,  because 
he  cannot  know  every  thing,  or  rather  because  he  cannot 
see  every  thing,  and  that  he  is  thence  compelled  to  believe. 
But  this  is  to  complain  of  one  of  his  privileges.  Direct 
knowledge  does  not  call  into  requisition  the  living  forces 
of  the  soul;  it  is  a  passive  state,  honored  by  no  spontaneity. 
But  in  the  act  of  faith  (for  it  is  an  act,  and  not  a  state),  the 
soul  is  in  some  sort  creative ;  if  it  does  not  create  the  truth, 
it  draws  it  from  itself,  appropriates,  realizes  it.  Under  its 
influence,  an  idea  becomes  a  fact,  a  fact  for  ever  present. 
Thought,  supported  by  a  power  of  the  soul,  then  manifests 
all  its  dignity  in  revealing  its  true  independence;  man 
multiplies  his  life,  extends  his  universe,  and  attains  the 
perfect  stature  of  a  thinking  being.  His  dignity  is  derived 
from  believing,  not  from  knowing. 

Faith  is  invested  with  a  character  still  more  elevated, 
when  it  takes  its  point  of  departure  from  the  word  of  a 
witness,  whose  soul  ours  has  penetrated,  and  recognized  its 
authority.  Then,  under  a  new  name,  that  of  confidence,  it 
attaches  itself  to  the  noblest  elements  of  our  nature,  sym- 
pathy, gratitude  and  love ;  it  is  the  condition  of  the  social 
relations,  and  constitutes  their  true  beauty.  Far  from  contra- 
dicting reason,  it  is  the  fact  of  a  sublime  reason,  and  one 
might  say,  that  it  is  to  the  soul,,what  genius  is  to  the  intellect. 


110  NATURAL   FAITH. 

When  the  apostles  recognized,  by  his  words,  their  risen 
Master,  when  Thomas,  skeptical  as  to  their  testimony, 
wished  to  put  his  finger  into  the  wounds  of  Jesus,  —  who 
was  rational,  if  not  the  apostles,  and  irrational,  if  not 
Thomas?  And,  notwithstanding,  for  how  many  people 
would  not  Thomas  be  the  type  of  prudence,  if  he  had  not 
become  by  tradition,  that  of  doubt ! 

Let  us  resume.  That  power  which  supplies  evidence, 
that  power,  which,  at  the  moment  when  a  man,  advancing 
upon  the  ocean  of  thought,  begins  to  lose  his  footing,  and 
feels  himself  overwhelmed  by  the  waves,  lifts  him  up,  sus- 
tains him,  and  enables  him  to  swim  through  the  foam  of 
doubt  to  the  pure  and  tranquil  haven  of  certainty,  is  faith 
It  is  by  faith,  according  to  the  apostle  (Heb.  11 :  1),  that 
what  we  hope  for  is  brought  nigh,  and  what  we  see  not  is 
made  visible.  It  is  faith  which  supplies  the  place  of  sight, 
the  testimony  of  the  senses,  personal  experience  and  mathe- 
matical evidence.1* 

*  The  facts  of  which  we  have  no  personal  knowledge  or  experience,  are, 
so  to  speak,  without  us.  They  have,  what  the  Germans  call,  an  objective, 
but  not  a  subjective  reality.  They  exist,  but,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned, 
might  as  well  not  exist.  We  cannot  be  said,  in  any  proper  sense  of  the 
word,  to  possess  them.  How,  then,  do  they  become  ours  ?  By  faith  in 
the  testimony  of  others,  is  the  common  reply.  But  a  mere  belief,  or  a  pas- 
sive reception  of  testimony,  would  leave  them  as  much  without  us  as  ever. 
They  would  exist  for  us,  but  not  in  us.  But  faith  is  an  active  principle. 
It  seizes  and  appropriates  the  truth,  and  lodges  it  as  a  living  element  in  the 
soul.  It  is  thus,  as  our  author  shows,  a  sort  of  mental  creation,  giving,  as 
it  does,  reality  and  power  to  the  invisible  and  the  future.  "  It  is  the  sub- 
stance (realization)  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  (conviction,  vision) 
of  things  not  seen."  By  means  of  it  we  know  what  would  otherwise  be 
unknown,  and  do  what  would  otherwise  be  undone.  It  is  an  energetic 
principle,  and,  in  the  department  of  religion,  "  worketh  by  love,  and  over- 
cometh  the  world."  By  its  aid,  we  are  made  to  live,  even  while  on  earth, 
in  the  spiritual  and  eternal  world.  "  We  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight."  Yet 
faith,  as  Vinet  beautifully  remarks,  is  the  vision  of  the  soul. 

"  The  want  of  sight  she  well  supplies, 
She  makes  the  pearly  gates  appear, 
Far  into  distant  worlds  she  pries, 
And  brings  eternal  glories  near."  T. 


NATURAL   FAITH.  Ill 


"F^iffll  fa  not  the  forbid  at3Apggg'vp  adherence  of  a  spirit 
vanquished..by.jpr<oo&  ;  it  is  a  power  of  the  soul,  as  inex- 
plicable in  its  principle  as  any  of  the  native  qualities  which 
distinguish  man  amongst  his  fellow-creatures;  a  power 
which  does  not  content  itself  with  receiving  the  truth,  but 
seizes  it,  embraces  it,  identifies  itself  with  it,  and  permits 
itself  to  be  carried  by  it  towards  all  the  consequences  which 
it  indicates  or  commands. 

Faith  is  not  credu^fy  ;  ,  tfjfi  ™ns£  credulous  man  is  not 
always  he  wno  believes  the  best.  A  belief,  easily  adopted, 
is  as  easily  lost  ;  and  the  firmest  convictions  are  generally 
those  which  have  cost  the  most.  Credulity  is  but  the  servile 
compliance  of  a  feeble  mind  ;  while  faith  demands  the  entire 
sphere  and  energy  of  the  soul. 

Let  us  add,  that  it  is  a  capacity  and  a  function,  the 
measure  and  intensity  of  which  vary  with  individuals, 
while  the  direct  evidence  is  for  all  equal  and  identical. 
Among  the  partizans  of  the  same  doctrine,  and  the  equally 
sincere  defenders  of  the  same  truth,  some  believe  more 
strongly;  the  object  of  their  faith  is  more  real,  —  is  nearer 
and  more  vividly  present  to  their  minds.  While  others, 
whose  conviction  is  full  and  free  from  doubts,  do  not  possess 
so  strong  a  conception,  so  vivid  a  view  of  the  object  of 
faith. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  when  reasoning  has  produced 
conviction,  there  can  be  no  further  use  or  place  for  faith. 
This  is  a  mistake.  Reasoning  leaves  the  truth  without  us. 
To  become  a  part  of  our  life,  a  part  of  ourselves,  it  requires 
to  be  vivified  by  faith.  If  the  soul  *  concur  not  with  the 
intellect,  certainly  the  most  legitimate  would  want  strength 
and  vivacity.  There  is  a  courage  of  the  intellect  like  the 
courage  of  the  soul,  and  thoroughly  to  believe  a  strange 

*  Here,  as  in  many  other  instances,  the  term  soul  is  used  in  a  peculiar 
and  restricted  sense,  as  signifying  the  sentimental  and  imaginative  part  of 
our  nature.  T. 


112  NATURAL    FAITH. 

truth,  supposes,  in  some  cases,  a  power  which  all  do  not 
possess.     In  vain  will  some  persons  try  to  do  this ;  for  the 
conclusions  to  which  they  have  come  by  a  series  of  logical 
deductions,  with  difficulty  produce  upon  their  minds  an 
impression   of    reality.      A  great  difference  will   always 
exist  between  reasoning  and  seeing,  between  drawing  a 
conclusion,  and  making  an  experiment.     It  would  seem, 
after  all,  that  the  mind  has  yet  need  of  sight ;  that  it  does 
not  yet  possess  that  strong  and  efficacious  conviction  which 
it  derives  from  a  sensible  impression ;  and  it  is  for  this  that 
faith  is  useful ;  it  is  a  sort  of  sight.     Moreover,  even  when 
we  have  gathered  together  all  the  elements  of  certainty, 
the  most  satisfactory  reasoning  does  not  always  in  itself 
secure  perfect  repose  to  our  minds.     It  might  be  said  that, 
in  the  case  of  many  persons,  the  more  the  road  from  the 
premises  to  the  conclusion  was  long  and  circuitous,  the 
more   their    conviction  loses    in    fullness,    as  if   it    were 
fatigued  by  its  wanderings,  and  had  arrived  exhausted  at 
the  end  of  its  reasoning.     Often  will  an  obstinate  doubt 
come  to  place  itself  in  the  train  of  the  most  logical  deduc- 
tions, a  peculiar  doubt,  which  brings  no  proofs,  which  makes 
no  attempt  to  legitimate  itself,  but  which,  after  all,  throws  a 
shadow  over  our  best  acquired  convictions.     When  it  is 
not  born  from  within,  it  comes  from  without ;  spread  in  the 
crowd  that  surrounds  us,  it  besieges  us  with  the  mass  of  all 
strange  unbeliefs.     It  is  not  known  how  difficult  it  is  to 
believe  in  the  midst  of  a   crowd  which  does  not  believe. 
Here  is  a  noble  exercise  of  faith ;  here  its  grandeur  appears. 
This  faith  in  contested  truths,  when  it  is  calm,  patient,  and 
modest,  is  one  of  the  essential  attributes  of  all  those  men 
who  been  great  in  "the  order  of  minds."     What  is  it  that 
gives  so  much  sublimity,  in  our  imaginations,  to  the  great 
names  of  Galileo,  Descartes  and  Bacon,  unless  it  be  their 
faith  in  the  truths  with  which  they  had  enriched  their 
minds  ?     A  Newton  reigns  with  majesty  over  the  world  of 


NATURAL   FAITH.  113 

science,  but  he  reigns  without  combat ;  his  image  is  that  of 
a  sovereign,  not  of  a  hero.  But  we  feel  more  than  admira- 
tion for  the  great  names  I  have  mentioned;  gratitude, 
mingled  with  tenderness  and  respect,  is  the  only  sentiment 
which  can  become  us.  Our  soul  thanks  them  for  not  having 
doubted,  for  having  preserved  their  faith  in  the  midst  of 
universal  dissent,  and  for  having  heroically  dispensed  with 
the  adherence  of  their  contemporaries. 

Shall  I  say  it,  even  ?  Yes,  but  to  our  shame.  Faith  finds 
its  use  even  in  the  facts  of  personal  experience.  Such  is 
our  mind,  such,  at  least,  is  it  become,  that  it  distinguishes 
between  external  and  internal  experience,  and,  yielding 
without  hesitation  to  the  testimony  of  the  senses,  it  costs  it 
an  effort  to  yield  to  the  testimony  of  consciousness.  It 
requires  submission,  and  by  consequence,  a  species  of  faith, 
to  admit  those  primitive  truths  which  it  carries  within  it, 
which  have  no  antecedents,  which  bring  no  other  warrant 
but  their  own  existence,  which  cannot  be  proved,  but  which 
are  felt.  Irresistible  in  their  nature,  still  some  require  an 
effort  in  order  to  believe  them.  Have  we  not  seen  some 
such  who  have  endeavored  to  draw  their  notions  of  justice 
from  those  of  utility,  so  as  to  go  back,  by  this  circuit,  to 
matter,  and  consequently  to  physical  experience?^  It 

*  Our  author  here  refers  to  the  sensual  philosophy  of  such  men  as  Con- 
dillac  and  Helvetius,  who,  taking  Locke's  idea,  that  all  our  knowledge  is 
derived  from  sensation  and  reflection,  have  carried  it  out  to  the  most 
extreme  and  absurd  consequences,  proving  thus  that  there  must  be  some 
defect  in  the  system  of  Locke,  or  at  least  in  his  method  of  stating  it. 
These  material  and  Epicurean  philosophers  refer  all  our  notions  of  justice 
to  utility,  all  our  feelings  of  reverence,  affection  and  gratitude  to  mere 
emotion  and  sensation.  In  their  analysis,  the  loftiest  sentiments  are 
reduced  to  the  images  and  impressions  of  material  forms.  The  very  soul 
is  materialized,  and  the  eternal  God  is  either  blotted  from  existence,  or 
represented  as  the  shadowy  and  infinite  refinement  of  physical  existence. 

The  Abbe  Condillac,  who  was  a  worthy  man,  and  a  beautiful  writer, 
never  intended  to  go  so  far  as  this,  but  his  successors  soon  ran  down  his 
system  to  absolute  atheism,  which,  for  a  long  time,  was  the  prevalent 

10 


114  NATURAL   FAITH. 

might  be  said  that  it  was  painful  to  them  to  see  the  road  to 
knowledge  shortened  before  them,  that  they  regretted  the 
absence  of  that  circuitous  path  which  God  wished  to  spare 
them ;  and  it  is  this  strange  prejudice  that  obliges  us,  in 
some  sort,  to  do  violence  to  the  nature  of  things,  and  exhibit, 
as  an  act  of  faith,  what  is  only  a  manifestation  of  evidence. 

However  this  may  be,  faith,  that  is  to  say,  in  all  possible 
spheres  the  vision  of  the  invisible,  and  the  absent  brought 
nigh,  is  the  energy  of  the  soul,  and  the  energy  of  life.  We 
do  not  go  too  far  in  saying  that  it  is  the  point  of  departure 
for  all  action ;  since  to  act  is  to  quit  the  firm  position  of  the 
present,  and  stretch  the  hand  into  the  future.  But  this,  at 
least,  is  certain,  that  faith  is  the  source  of  every  thing  in  the 
eyes  of  man,  which  bears  a  character  of  dignity  and  force. 
Vulgar  souls  wish  to  see,  to  touch,  to  grasp ;  others  have 
the  eye  of  faith,  and  they  are  great.  It  is  always  by  having 
faith  in  others,  in  themselves,  in  duty,  or  in  the  Divinity, 
that  men  have  done  great  things.  Faith  has  been,  in  all 
time,  the  strength  of  the  feeble  and  the  salvation  of  the 
miserable.  In  great  crises,  in  grand  exigences,  the  favorable 
chance  has  always  been  for  him  who  hoped  against  hope. 
And  the  greatness  of  individuals  or  of  nations  may  be 
measured  precisely  by  the  greatness  of  their  faith. 

It  was  by  faith  that  Leonidas,  charged  with  three  hundred 
men  for  the  salvation  of  Greece,  encountered  eight  hundred 
thousand  Persians.  His  country  had  sent  him  to  die  at 
Thermopylae.  He  died  there.  What  he  did  was  by  no 
means  reasonable,  according  to  ordinary  views.  All  the 
probabilities  were  against  him ;  but  in  throwing  into  the 
balance  the  weight  of  his  lofty  soul,  and  three  hundred 

philosophy  in  France.  A  better  system  is  beginning  to  prevail  there  5  still, 
even  the  spiritual  philosophy  is  liable  to  run  to  the  same  extreme  as  gross 
materialism.  The  great  difficulty  with  such  philosophers  as  Cousin  and 
others,  is,  that  they  have  not  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes.  Their 
transcendentalism  is  liable  to  become  as  skeptical  and  irreligious  as  the 
sensualism  of  Helvetius  and  Voltaire.  T. 


NATURAL    FAITH.  115 

heroic  deaths,  he  did  violence  to  fortune.  His  death,  as 
one  has  happily  said,  was  "  well  laid  out."  Greece,  united 
by  so  great  an  example,  pledged  herself  to  be  invincible. 
And  the  same  spirit  of  faith, — faith,  I  mean,  in  her  own 
power, — was  the  principle  of  all  those  actions  in  that  famous 
Persian  war  which  secured  the  independence  of  Greece. 

What  was  it  that  sustained  amid  the  wastes  of  the  ocean, 
that  intrepid  mortal,  who  has  given  us  a  new  world  ?  It 
was  an  ardent  faith.  His  spirit  convinced,  had  already 
touched  America,  had  already  trodden  its  shores,  had  there 
founded  colonies  and  states,  and  conveyed,  by  a  new  road, 
shorter  though  indirect,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the 
regions  of  the  rising  sun.^  He  led  his  companions  to  a 
known  land ;  he  went  home.  Thus,  from  the  moment  that 
he  received  this  conviction,  with  what  patience  have  you 
seen  him  go  from  sovereign  to  sovereign,  entreating  them, 
to  accept  a  world  !  He  pursued,  during  long  years,  his 
sublime  mendicity,  pained  by  refusals,  but  never  affected 
by  contempt,  bearing  every  thing,  provided  only  that  he 
should  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  giving  to  some  one 
that  marvellous  land  which  he  had  placed  in  the  midst  of 
the  ocean.  Amid  the  dangers  of  an  adventurous  naviga- 
tion, amid  the  cries  of  a  mutinous  crew,  seeing  his  death 
written  in  the  angry  eyes  of  his  sailors,  he  keeps  his  faith, 
he  lives  by  his  faith,  and  asks  only  three  days,  the  last  of 
which  presents  to  him  his  conquest. 

What  power  had  the  last  Brutus,  at  the  moment  when 
he  abandoned  his  faith  ?  From  the  time  of  his  melancholy 
vision,  produced  by  a  diminution  of  that  faith,  it  might 
have  been  predicted,  that  his  own  destiny  and  that  of  the 
republic  were  finished.  He  felt  it  himself;  it  was  with  a 
presentiment  of  defeat  that  he  fought  at  Philippi.  And  such 
a  presentiment  always  realizes  itself. 

*  That  is  to  say,  Columbus  believed  that  by  going  west,  he  would  reach 
the  eastern  hemisphere,  by  a  easier,  yet  more  indirect  route,  and  convey 
to  those  distant  regions  the  blessings  of  Christianity.  T. 


116  NATURAL   FAITH. 

The  Romans,  at  their  origin,  persuaded  themselves  that 
they  could  found  an  eternal  city.  This  conviction  was  the 
principle  of  their  disastrous  greatness.  Perpetuated  from 
generation  to  generation,  this  idea  conquered  for  them  the 
world.  An  unheard-of  policy  caused  them  never  to  treat 
with  an  enemy,  except  as  conquerors.  How  much  value 
did  they  attach  to  faith,  when,  after  the  battle  of  Cannae, 
they  thanked  the  imprudent  Varro  for  not  having  despaired 
of  the  salvation  of  the  republic  ?  It  would  certainly  make 
a  vicious  circle,  to  say,  we  believe  in  victory,  therefore  we 
shall  conquer.  But  it  is  not  always  the  people  who  reason 
the  best,  that  are  the  strongest ;  and  the  power  of  man 
generally  lies  more  in  his  conviction  itself,  than  in  the 
goodness  of  the  proofs  by  which  it  is  sustained. 

Whence  is  derived  the  long  duration  of  certain  forms  of 
government,  and  of  certain  institutions,  which  to-day  we 
find  so  little  conformed  to  right  and  reason  ?  From  the 
faith  of  the  people,  from  a  sentiment,  slightly  rational,  and 
by  no  means  clear,  but  energetic  and  profound,  a  sort  of 
political  religion.  It  is  important  that  a  government  should 
be  just,  a  dynasty  beneficent,  an  institution  reasonable ; 
but  faith,  up  to  a  certain  point,  can  take  the  place  of  these 
things,  while  these  do  not  always  supply  the  want  of  faith. 
The  best  institutions,  in  respect  to  solidity  and  duration, 
are  not  the  most  conformed  to  theory ;  faith  preserves  them 
better  than  reason ;  and  the  most  rational  are  not  quite 
consolidated,  until  after  the  convictions  of  the  mind  have 
become  the  property  of  the  heart,  until  the  citizen,  no  longer 
searching  incessantly,  for  the  reasons  of  submission,  obeys 
by  a  certain  lively  and  voluntary  impulse,  the  principle  of 
which  is  nothing  but  faith. 

Another  thing  still  more  surprising  !  faith  often  attaches 
itself  to  a  man.  There  are  great  characters,  powerful  wills, 
to  which  has  been  given  a  mysterious  empire  over  less 
energetic  natures.  The  greater  part  of  men  live  by  this  faith 
in  powerful  men.  A  small  number  of  individuals  lead  in 


NATURAL   FAITH.  117 

their  orbit  the  whole  human  race.  They  do  not  weigh  all 
the  reasons  which  such  men  give ;  they  do  not  calculate  all 
the  chances  which  they  develop ;  they  do  not  judge  them, 
they  only  believe  in  them.  Many  men,  for  decision,  for 
action,  for  faith,  follow  the  impulse  of  these  privileged 
natures !  And  who  can  sufficiently  wonder  at  it  ?  Their 
feebleness  is  transformed  into  strength  under  that  powerful 
influence,  and  they  become  capable,  by  sympathy,  of  things, 
which  left  to  themselves,  they  would  never  have  imagined, 
thought  of,  nor  desired.  Amid  dangers,  when  fear  is  in 
all  hearts,  the  crowd  derive  courage  and  confidence  from 
the  assured  words  of  a  man,  who  has  no  one  to  trust  but 
himself.  Every  one  confides  in  him  who  confides  in  himself; 
and  his  audacious  hope  is  often  the  best  resource,  in  a 
moment  of  general  anxiety. 

But  we  leave  to  others  the  task  of  multiplying  examples. 
We  are  sure  that  from  all  points  of  history,  proofs  arise  of 
the  truth  we  exhibit.  Wherever  man  has  given  to  the 
future  the  vividness  of  the  present,  and  to  the  representa- 
tions of  his  own  mind  the  power  of  reality,  wherever  man 
believes  in  others,  in  himself,  or  in  God,  he  is  strong.  I 
mean,  with  a  relative  strength;  strong  in  one  respect, 
feeble  perhaps,  in  all  others ;  strong  for  an  emergency,  fee- 
ble perhaps  beyond  it ;  strong  for  good,  strong  also  for  evil. 

Human  religions,  then,  have  rendered  homage  to  a  truth, 
and  comprehended  a  general  want,  in  furnishing  to  man  an 
object  of  faith,  superior  in  its  nature  to  all  others.  They 
have  fully  acknowledged,  that  in  the  rude  path  of  life,  man 
has  not  enough,  in  what  he  knows,  and  in  what  he  sees ; 
that  his  most  solid  supports  are  in  the  region  of  the  invisi- 
ble, and  that  he  will  always  be  less  strong  by  realities, 
than  belief.  They  give  support  to  numerous  souls  who 
cannot  confide  in  themselves;  and,  by  placing  in  heaven, 
succor  and  hope,  they  govern  from  on  high,  the  events 
which  envelop  and  protect  the  whole  life. 
10* 


VII. 


CHRISTIAN  FAITH. 


'Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed." 
JOHN  20:  29. 


WE  have  sufficiently  exalted  human  faith,  let  us  abase 
it  now.  Having  spoken  of  its  marvels,  let  us  recount  its 
miseries. 

Human  religions  have  recognized  a  want  of  our  nature ; 
they  have  excited  and  cherished  it,  but  they  have  deceived 
it.  In  the  first  place,  they  were  pure  inventions  of 
man.  Not  that  faith,  considered  as  a  motive  of  action,  and 
a  source  of  energy,  should  absolutely  need  to  repose  upon 
the  truth,  but  that  what  is  false  cannot  last,  and  must,  at 
the  very  least,  give  place  to  a  new  error.  Faith  in  human 
inventions  may  be  firm  and  lively  so  long  as  there  is  a 
proportion  between  them  and  the  degree  of  existing  mental 
culture.  That  epoch  past,  faith  gradually  evaporates,  leav- 
ing dry,  so  to  speak,  one  class  of  society  after  another ; 
the  dregs  of  belief  then  remain  with  the  dregs  of  the 
people;  the  more  elevated  classes  are  skeptical  or  indiffer- 
ent; and  the  thinkers  are  fatalists  or  atheists.  If  in  some 
extraordinary  cases,  the  old  religion  continues,  it  is,  as  we 
have  seen  in  a  preceding  discourse,  at  the  expense  of 


CHRISTIAN   FAITH.  119 

intellectual  advancement  and  every  other  kind  of  progress. 
These  old  religions,  instead  of  giving  energy  to  the  soul, 
exhaust  it ;  instead  of  sustaining,  oppress  it. 

In  another  respect,  the  faith  of  the  heathen  is  still  less 
commendable.  It  is  entirely  alien  to  the  moral  perfection 
of  man;  often,  indeed,  directly  opposed  to  it.  It  proposes 
to  console  man,  it  more  frequently  tyrannizes  over  him. 
No  where  has  it  for  its  final  aim  to  regenerate  him ;  no 
where  does  it  rise  to  the  sublime  idea  of  causing  him  to 
find  his  happiness  in  his  regeneration. 

Shall  we  say  aught  respecting  the  faith  of  deists? 
Thoroughly  to  appreciate  it  in  an  epoch  like  ours,  it  ought, 
at  the  very  first,  to  be  divested  of  what  it  has  involuntarily 
borrowed  from  the  gospel.  The  deism  of  our  day  is  more 
or  less  tinctured  with  Christianity;  this  is  the  reason  why 
it  does  not,  like  that  of  antiquity,  lose  itself  in  fatalism. 
But  whatever  it  may  be,  and  taking  it  in  its  best  forms,  we 
must  acknowledge  that  the  faith  of  the  deist  is  only  an 
opinion ;  an  opinion,  too,  exceedingly  vague  and  fluctuating, 
and  which,  as  a  motive  of  action,  does  not  avail  so  much 
as  the  faith  of  the  heathen.  Let  deism,  at  least,  have  its 
devotees,  who,  to  please  their  divinity,  permit  themselves 
to  be  crushed  beneath  the  wheels  of  his  car,  and  we  will 
acknowledge  that  deism  is  a  religion. 

Thus  it  is  not  without  a  kind  of  pleasure  that  we  behold 
the  skeptics  of  our  day,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  their 
natural  religion,  and  haunted  by  a  desire  to  believe,  frankly 
addressing  themselves  to  other  objects,  and,  strange  to  tell, 
making  for  themselves  a  religion  without  a  divinity.  I  do 
not  speak  here  of  the  covetous,  who,  according  to  St.  Paul, 
are  real  idolaters,  nor  of  the  sensual,  who,  according  to  the 
same  apostle,  "  make  a  God  of  their  belly."  It  is  of  souls 
not  sunk  so  low,  souls  who,  less  skeptical  originally,  have 
retained  their  craving,  their  thirst  for  the  infinite,  but  have 
mistaken  its  true  import.  This  craving  for  God  and  reli- 


120  CHRISTIAN   FAITH. 

gion,  which  unconsciously  torments  them,  induces  them  to 
seek  upon  earth  some  object  of  adoration ;  for  it  is  nec- 
essary that  man  should  adore  something.  It  is  difficult  to 
say  how  they  come  to  invest  with  a  character  of  infinity, 
objects  whose  finite  nature  must  continually  strike  us;  but 
it  is  certain  that  this  illusion  is  common.  Some  make 
science  the  object  of  their  passionate  devotion.  Others 
evoke  the  genius  of  humanity,  or,  as  they  say,  its  ideal, 
devoting  to  its  perfection  and  triumph,  equally  ideal,  what- 
ever they  possess  of  affection,  of  thought  and  of  power. 
Others,  and,  in  our  day,  the  greatest  number,  have  made 
for  themselves  a  religion  of  political  liberty.  The  triumph 
of  certain  principles  of  right  in  society,  is  to  them  what  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  eternal  life  are  to  the  Christian.  They 
have  their  worship,  their  devotion,  their  fanaticism ;  and 
those  very  men  who  smile  at  the?  mysticism  of  Christian 
sects,  have  also  their  mysticism,  less  tender  and  less  spirit- 
ual, but  more  inconceivable. 

Thus,  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts  to  the  contrary,  and, 
notwithstanding  all  their  pretensions,  each  one,  we  doubt 
not,  has  his  religion,  each  has  his  worship,  each  deifies 
something,  and  when  he  knows  not  what  idea  to  make 
divine,  he  deifies  himself. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  infidelity  commenced  in  the 
garden  of  Eden ;  and  as  such  was  its  beginning,  such  also 
is  its  final  result.  In  reality,  all  other  apotheoses,  if  we 
examine  them  carefully,  come  to  this.  In  science,  in 
reason,  in  liberty,  it  is  himself  to  which  man  renders 
homage.  But  faith  in  one's  self  originates  a  particular  kind 
of  worship,  which  it  is  important  to  notice.  It  consists  of 
a  circle,  the  most  vicious  and  absurd.  The  subject  and 
the  object  are  confounded  in  the  same  individual;  the 
adorer  adores  himself,  the  believer  believes  in  himself; 
that  is  to  say,  since  worship  always  supposes  a  relation  of 
inequality,  the  same  individual  finds  himself  inferior  to 


CHRISTIAN    FAITH.  121 

himself;  and  since  faith  supposes  an  authority,  the  author- 
ity in  this  case  submits  to  the  same  authority.  This 
confusion  of  ideas  no  longer  strikes  us  when  we  have 
permitted  the  inconceivable  idea  to  enter  our  minds,  that 
we  are  something  beside  ourselves, — that  the  branch  can 
subsist  without  the  trunk ;  whence  it  would  follow  that  we 
must  be  at  once  above  and  beneath  ourselves,  while  the 
same  persons  find  themselves  at  once  their  own  masters 
and  their  own  servants.  Thus  live  by  choice  and  system 
some  men  who  pass  for  sages.  They  have  faith  in  them- 
selves, in  their  wisdom,  energy,  will  and  virtue;  and  when 
this  faith  succeeds  in  rooting  itself  firmly  in  the  heart,  it  is 
capable  of  producing,  outwardly,  very  great  effects.  I 
have  said  great,  but 'upon  this  point  I  refer  you  to  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  who  says,  "  that  which  is  highly  esteemed,, 
among  men  is  abomination  with  God." 

Do  you  prefer  this  faith  in  ideas,  and  this  faith  in  self, 
to  the  faith  of  the  heathen  in  their  imaginary  gods  ?  And 
why  not  see  that,  independently  of  the  pride  and  irreligion 
which  characterize  these  two  forms  of  faith,  they  are,  even 
humanly  speaking,  extremely  defective?  Here  it  is  proper 
to  notice  the  imprudence  with  which  some  have  exalted 
subjective  faith,  according  to  the  name  given  it  by  the 
schools,  above  objective  faith,  by  intimating  that  the  main 
thing  is  to  believe  firmly,  whatever,  in  other  respects,  be 
the  object  of  faith;  intending,  doubtless,  to  apply  this 
maxim  only  to  the  variations  of  the  truth,  not  to  the  truth 
itself.  But  how  easy  is  the  transition  from  the  one  to  the 
other.  Why  deny  that  the  men  of  whom  we  have  just 
been  speaking  possess,  in  a  high  degree,  subjective  faith; 
and  that  such  faith  may  be  in  them  a  quick  and  intense 
energy,  fitted  equally  for  resistance  and  movement?  But 
is  this  the  only  question  to  be  asked  respecting  it?  Are 
we  to  be  satisfied  with  its  being  powerful,  without  demand- 
ing an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  it  uses  its  power? 


122  CHRISTIAN    FAITH. 

What,  then,  are  the  effects  of  this  much  vaunted  faith  of 
man  in  man  ?  Does  it  not  leave  in  his  interior  nature 
immense  deficiencies?  Does  it  not  cultivate  it,  to  speak 
more  plainly,  in  the  wrong  direction,  and  in  a  way  to  cor- 
rupt it?  When  all  the  fluids  of  the  body  are  conveyed  to 
one  part  of  the  system,  what  becomes  of  the  rest?  When 
all  the  devotions  of  man  are  addressed  to  man,  what 
becomes  of  God?  And  what  a  monstrosity  is  that  faith 
which  has  become  erroneous  and  false  to  such  an  extent 
as  this  ? 

But  do  not  believe  that  this  faith,  even  in  its  own 
sphere,  has  all  the  prerogatives  ascribed  to  it.  There  are, 
I  allow,  inflexible  spirits,  whom  age  only  hardens,  and 
who  die  in  their  superstition,  fanatical,  to  the  last,  touching 
enlightenment,  civilization  and  freedom.  But  the  greater 
number  disabuse  and  free  themselves  before  they  die. 
Some  of  them  have  been  seen  smiling  at  their  former  wor- 
ship, and  trampling  under  their  feet  with  disdain  the  ruins 
of  their  former  idols.  The  soul  is  easily  satiated  with 
what  is  not  true;  and  disgust  is  then  proportioned  to  pre- 
vious enthusiasm.  Ye  will  come  to  this,  ye  who  believe 
in  the  regeneration  of  the  human  race  by  political  freedom ; 
ye  who  have  never  known  that,  until  man  becomes  the 
servant  of  God  he  can  never  enjoy  true  freedom ;  ye  will 
groan  over  your  dreams,  when  popular  passions  have 
perhaps  colored  them  with  blood !  Ye  will  come  to  this, 
ye  who  are  confident  in  your  native  generosity,  in  the 
liberality  of  your  sentiments  and  the  purity  of  your  inten- 
tions, in  a  word,  ye  that  have  faith  in  yourselves.  When 
a  thousand  humiliating  falls  have  convinced  you  of  your 
weakness,  when  disabused  with  reference  to  others,  ye 
shall  be  disabused  also  with  reference  to  yourselves,  when 
ye  shall  exclaim,  like  Brutus,  "  O  Virtue,  thou  art  only  a 
phantom !  "  what  will  then  remain  to  you  ?  That  which 
has  remained  to  so  many  others,  the  pleasures  of  selfish- 


CHRISTIAN   FAITH.  123 

ness  or  of  sensuality,  the  last  bourne  of  all  errors,  the  vile 
residuum  of  all  false  systems.  If,  indeed,  it  shall  not  then 
be  given  you  to  accept  in  exchange  for  the  faith  which  has 
deserted  you,  a  better  faith,  which  will  never  desert  you, 
and  which  it  now  remains  for  us  to  announce. 

We  declare  to  you  the  faith  of  the  gospel;  study  its 
characteristics,  and  become  acquainted  with  its  excellence. 

No  where  is  the  importance  of  faith  so  highly  estimated 
as  in  the  gospel.  In  the  first  place,  you  learn,  at  the  very 
first  glance,  that  it  is  faith  which  saves,  not  for  time,  but 
for  eternity.  "By  faith  ye  are  saved,"  says  St.  Paul. 
"  If  thou  confess  Jesus  Christ  with  thy  mouth,  and  believe 
with  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead, 
thou  shalt  be  saved."  "  Christ  is  the  author  of  salvation 
to  all  them  that  believe."  This  is  the  first  characteristic  of 
Christian  faith,  that  salvation  depends  on  it. 

But  do  not,  on  this  account,  consider  it  as  a  meritorious 
act.  While  in  other  religions  faith  is  an  arbitrary  work  to 
which  it  has  pleased  the  Divinity  to  attach  a  merit  and  a 
recompense,  a  work  without  any  other  value  than  an  acci- 
dental one,  communicated  to  it  by  the  promise  from  on 
high;  in  the  gospel,  faith  is  represented  as  having  an 
intrinsic  power,  a  virtue  of  its  own,  a  direct  influence  upon 
the  life,  and  by  the  life  upon  salvation.  Faith,  in  the 
gospel,  does  not  save,  except  by  regenerating.  It  consists 
in  receiving  into  the  heart  those  things  which  are  fitted  to 
change  it.  The  Christian,  with  reference  to  God,  to 
himself,  to  life,  has  convictions  entirely  different  from  those 
of  the  world,  if,  indeed,  the  world  has  upon  these  subjects 
any  thing  which  resembles  convictions.  But  such  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  that  when  it  penetrates  a  spirit 
agitated  by  remorse  and  the  terrors  of  the  judgment  to 
come,  it  produces  in  it  a  gratitude  and  a  joy,  the  inevitable 
effect  of  which  is  to  impel  it  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that 
which  it  has  hitherto  followed.  The  believer  has  found 


124  CHRISTIAN   FAITH. 

peace ;  can  he  abandon  the  source  of  peace  ?  Can  he  wan- 
der away  to  shattered  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water,  when 
within  his  reach  he  has  fountains  of  living  waters  springing 
up  into  everlasting  life  ?  Can  he  fail  to  obey  Him,  who, 
for  his  benefit,  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death 
of  the  cross  ?  Will  he  not  submit  to  the  providence  of 
that  God,  who,  having  given  to  him  his  only  begotten  Son, 
has  proved  to  him,  that  in  all  things,  He  can  desire  nothing 
but  his  happiness  ?  Will  he,  who  loves  his  Father  in 
heaven,  hate  any  of  his  brethren  on  earth?  And  will 
he  fail  to  pray,  who  knows  that  the  very  Spirit  of  God 
makes  intercession  for  him  with  unutterable  sighs  ?  Yes  ! 
Christian  faith  is  the  victory  over  the  world ;  Christian 
faith  contains  all  the  elements  of  a  holy  life.  And  what 
proves  this  better  than  all  reasonings  is,  the  many  holy 
lives,  so  consistent  and  harmonious,  of  which  Christianity 
alone  supplies  the  model,  and  especially  those  wondrous 
revolutions  which  render  persons  truly  converted  new 
creatures ;  which  subdue  to  sweetness  so  many  angry  souls, 
to  patience,  impetuous  natures,  to  humility,  haughty  spirits, 
to  sincerity,  dissembling  characters,  to  tranquillity,  troubled 
hearts ;  which,  in  a  word,  creates  in  man  a  new  soul,  capa- 
ble of  all  the  virtues  the  very  opposite  of  the  vices  which 
tyrannized  over  him. 

The  unity  of  life  ought  to  correspond  to  the  unity  of 
principle,  and  not  only  so,  but  to  its  immensity.  Faith  in 
something  finite,  can  produce  only  finite  results  ;  faith  in 
any  thing  imperfect  or  fleeting,  only  imperfect  and  fleeting 
results.  But  God  is  the  principle  which  includes  all  prin- 
ciples ;  he  is  more,  he  is  the  principle  which  regulates  and 
quickens  all.  Every  thing  is  false  and  mutilated  if  it  relate 
not  to  God  ;  but  all  is  true,  complete,  united,  fruitful,  which 
has  the  true  God  for  its  principle.  What  part  of  the  field 
of  morals  can  remain  sterile  and  useless  under  an  influence 
from  which  nothing  can  escape  ?  Over  what  virtue  cannot 


CHRISTIAN    FAITH.  125 

God  preside  ?  "With  what  duty  can  He  dispense  ?  How 
shall  He,  who  is  justice,  goodness,  and  beauty  supreme, 
fail  to  attract  to  himself  whatever  is  just,  and  great,  and 
beautiful  ?  It  is  on  this  account  that  the  knowledge  of  God, 
of  the  true  God,  is  the  only  principle  of  a  perfect  morality ; 
and  most  insensate  is  he  who  would  ascribe  to  God  any 
other. 

But  do  not  demand  of  Christian  faith  only  splendid 
things.  It  has  these,  it  is  true,  but  it  holds  in  tension  all  the 
strings  of  the  soul  at  once,  and  extends  its  influence  to  all 
points  at  the  same  time.  We  have  seen  Leonidas  perish 
at  Thermopylae  for  the  salvation  of  Greece.  Christian  faith 
would  teach  a  Christian  to  do  as  much  as  that ;  but  it  would 
also  render  him  capable,  every  day,  of  a  thousand  little 
sacrifices.  It  would  arm  his  soul  against  all  internal  as- 
saults of  anger,  of  envy,  and  of  false  glory.  Could  the  faith 
of  Leonidas  do  all  these  things? 

This  infinite  variety,  this  immensity  of  application  of  the 
Christian  faith,  is  belter  explained  by  a  reference  to  its 
dominant  characteristic,  which  is  love.  Love  prescribes  no 
limits.  Were  a  sentiment  only  of  legal  justice  in  the  heart 
of  a  Christian,  he  would  try  to  measure  his  task,  he  would 
trace  for  himself  precise  limits,  he  would  know  where  to 
stop;  but  obeying  because  he  loves,  loving  Him  whom  he 
cannot  love  too  much,  he  abandons  himself  to  the  impulse 
of  his  heart  as  the  worldling  abandons  himself  to  his  pas- 
sion. He  never  says,  and  he  never  can  say,  it  is  enough. 
He  would  fear  that  he  loved  no  longer  when  he  could  say 
to  his  love,  "  Hither  shall  thou  come,  and  no  further." 
Love  knows  neither  precaution  nor  reserve ;  it  ever  desires 
more  ;  it  is  inflamed  by  ils  own  movement ;  it  grows  by 
sacrifices  themselves,  expects  to  receive  in  the  measure  that 
it  gives,  and  is  itself  its  own  reward ;  for  the  true  reward  of 
love  is  to  love  still  more.  Where,  then,  in  its  applicalions, 
shall  a  failh  slop  which  resolves  itself  into  love  ? 
11 


126  CHRISTIAN   FAITH. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary,  after  all  this,  to  prove  that  Chris- 
tian faith  is  an  energetic  principle  of  action.  To  abstain 
and  sustain  constitute  but  half  of  the  morality  founded  upon 
love.  Very  far  from  confining  itself  to  a  character  of  obe- 
dient passivity,  the  holy  impatience  of  love  seeks  and  mul- 
tiplies occasions  of  testifying  its  ardor  towards  the  Saviour 
God  from  whom  it  has  emanated.  Faithful  to  the  express 
commands  of  the  gospel,  and  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  holy  activity  never  relaxed,  Christian  love,  each 
moment,  creates  for  itself  new  spheres  of  labor,  and  new  do- 
mains to  conquer.  Will  not  even  the  enemies  of  Christianity 
be  the  first  to  admit  an  activity  which  vexes  and  alarms 
them  daily  ?  Do  not  those  who  accuse  Christian  faith  of 
fanaticism  render  a  beautiful  homage  to  the  force  of  action 
which  dwells  in  it  ?  Christ  well  characterized  the  faith 
which  he  brought  into  the  world,  when  he  said,  with  so 
much  energy, — "If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 
ye  would  say  to  this  fig  tree,  be  thou  plucked  up  by  the 
roots,  and  be  thou,cast  into  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  and  it 
would  do  it."  Such,  indeed,  is  the  power  of  Christian 
faith,  that,  long  before  the  appearance  of  Christ,  when  it  was 
nourished  only  in  the  shadow  of  Him  that  was  to  come, 
already  Christians  by  anticipation,  under  the  ancient  cove- 
nant, were  rendered  capable,  by  their  faith,  of  the  most 
heroic  efforts  and  the  most  extraordinary  works.  Read  in 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the 
picture  of  what  this  faith  enabled  the  Christians  of  the 
ancient  covenant  to  do  ;  bring  together  that  picture  and  the 
one  presented  from  the  days  of  the  apostles  to  ours,  and  you 
will  not  doubt,  that  if  faith,  in  general,  is  an  energetic  prin- 
ciple of  action,  Christian  faith  is  the  most  energetic  of  all. 

A  last  characteristic  of  this  faith  is  its  certainty.  I  do 
not  speak  of  that  array  of  external  proofs  which  form  the 
imposing  bulwark  of  the  Christian  revelation ;  proofs  for 
which  the  skeptics  of  our  day  affect  a  contempt  so  little 


CHRISTIAN    FAITH.  127 

philosophical,  and  which  scarcely  one  in  a  hundred  gives 
himself  the  trouble  to  examine.  I  do  not  speak  of  them 
here,  for  they  are  not  equally  within  the  reach  of  all  the 
faithful.  But  the  Christian  has  a  proof  better  still ;  he  has 
God  present  in  the  heart;  he  feels,  every  moment,  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  his  soul.  He  loves ;  there- 
fore he  has  the  truth.  His  proof  is  not  of  a  nature  to  be 
communicated  by  words ;  but  neither  can  words  take  it 
away.  You  cannot  prove  to  him  that  he  does  not  love 
God  ;  and  if  he  loves  God,  will  you  dare  to  insist  that  he 
does  not  know  him  ?  I  have  already  asked  it  once,  and  I 
ask  it  again  :  Can  he  who  loves  God  be  deceived ;  is  he 
not  in  the  truth.  And  if  Christianity  alone  gives  him  power 
to  love  God,  is  not  Christianity  exclusively  the  truth  ?  Such 
is  the  certainty  in  which  the  faithful  rejoice.  I  do  not  add 
that  it  is  cherished  and  quickened  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  I 
only  speak  of  obvious  facts,  facts  respecting  which  the 
unbelieving  as  well  as  the  believing  can  satisfy  themselves. 
And  I  limit  myself  to  saying,  that  the  faith  of  the  true 
Christian  has  for  its  peculiar  characteristic  a  certainty 
which  elevates  it  above  that  of  any  other  belief. 

Behold,  ye  men  of  the  world,  ye  thinkers,  ye  great  actors 
in  the  concerns  of  time  !  behold  the  faith  which  I  propose 
to  your  hearts,  empty  and  famishing  for  faith,  deceived  rather 
by  faith  itself.  Certainly  it  does  not  depend  upon  me  to 
make  you  accept  it,  by  the  picture  I  have  traced,  nor  upon 
you  to  become  its  votaries,  through  this  simple  exposition. 
Arguments  do  not  change  man  ;  it  is  life  which  teaches 
life ;  it  is  God  who  reveals  God.  But  is  what  we  have 
said  without  some  attainable  end  and  application  ?  No,  if 
we  have  succeeded  in  making  you  understand  at  least  the 
imperfections  of  your  faith,  and  the  superiority  of  Christian 
faith  with  reference  to  life  and  action.  As  to  the  first 
point,  it  is,  I  believe,  beyond  contradiction.  As  to  the  sec- 
ond, we  have  proved,  it  appears  to  us,  all  that  we  had  to 


128  CHRISTIAN    FAITH. 

prove.  We  have  not  demonstrated  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  true,  that  the  revelations  upon  which  it  rests  are 
authentic.  Our  only  object  was  to  demonstrate  that  like 
all  other  beliefs,  it  renders  homage  to  a  want  of  the  human 
soul,  and,  what  no  other  belief  has  yet  done,  that  it  has 
satisfied  this  want ;  that  it  furnishes  to  man  a  principle  of 
energy  and  action,  the  distinctive  features  of  which  are  not 
found  united  in  any  other  faith ;  that  it  has  an  intensity,  a 
generality  of  application,  an  elevation  of  tendency,  and,  in 
fine,  a  certainty  which  no  other  possesses ;  that  in  all  these 
respects  it  presents  a  type  of  perfection  which  has  never 
been  realized  in  any  human  invention ;  and  that  if  God  him- 
self has  given  a  faith  to  the  world,  it  is  impossible  that  he 
should  have  given  a  better  in  any  respect.  After  this,  it 
would  appear  quite  superfluous  to  inquire  if  the  Christian 
religion  is  true.  To  us,  this  proof  is  sufficient ;  and  we 
earnestly  pray  that  it  may  strike  others  as  it  strikes  us. 
May  such,  by  the  grace  of  God,  be  the  result  of  this 
meditation. 


VIII. 

ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS. 

"Without  God  in  the  -world." — EPH.  11:  12. 

THESE  words  were  addressed  by  St.  Paul  to  the  recently 
converted  Christians,  at  Ephesus,  and  form  a  part  of  the 
chapter,  in  which  that  great  apostle  reminds  them  of  the 
state  of  darkness,  of  moral  depravity  and  condemnation,  in 
which  they  were  plunged,  before  the  messengers  of  salva- 
tion had  proclaimed  to  them  Jesus  Christ.  The  painful 
truth  included  in  this  text,  being  established  by  the  infalli- 
ble authority  of  the  divine  word,  and  being  found  in 
accordance  with  the  whole  current  of  Christian  revelation, 
we  might  dispense  with  the  task  of  seeking  any  other 
proofs  of  it.  But  God  has  not  forbidden  us  to  prove,  and 
illustrate  the  perfect  and  wonderful  harmony  of  his  word, 
with  the  clearest  principles  of  reason  and  nature.  On  this 
account,  we  invite  you  to  investigate  with  us  the  proofs  of 
that  proposition  of  St.  Paul,  that  the  Ephesians,  before 
knowing  Jesus  Christ,  were  without  God  in  the  world. 

Aid  us  by  your  attention.  And  if  you  involuntarily  feel 
some  prejudices  against  the  position  we  are  about  to 
sustain,  be  willing  to  repress  them  for  a  few  moments.  I 
11* 


130  ATHEISM   OF   THE   EPHESIANS. 

am  not  going  to  prove  that  the  Ephesians,  before  their 
conversion,  did  not  believe  in  God ;  that  were  an  untenable 
position.  The  belief  in  God  is  so  inherent  in  the  human 
race,  so  essential  to  our  reason,  that  the  most  depraved 
persons  can  with  difficulty  free  themselves  from  it.  Not 
every  one  that  wishes  it  is  an  atheist ;  the  very  devils  believe 
and  tremble.  How  could  Paul  say  such  a  thing  of  the  Ephe- 
sians, in  sight,  as  it  were,  of  the  temple  of  their  Diana  ?  How 
could  he  say  so,  when  at  Athens,  beholding  altars  every 
where,  he  had  reproached  the  inhabitants  of  that  celebrated 
city  with  being,  in  some  sort,  too  devout  ?  What  he 
wished  to  say,  and  what  we  seek  to  prove,  is,  that  in  the 
case  of  an  unconverted  Ephesian,  nay,  more  of  the  most 
enlightened  Ephesian,  of  him,  who  in  the  steps  of  the 
philosophers  had  risen  to  the  idea  of  the  divine  unity,  it 
would  have  been  the  same  thing,  not  to  believe  in  God,  as 
to  believe  in  him  as  he  did. 

And  if  this  even  should  appear  to  some  hard  to  believe, 
I  beg  them  to  give  attention  to  the  following  question. 
What  is  it  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  being  ?  Is  it 
not  to  believe  that  there  is  a  subject,  in  which  certain 
qualities  unite,  that  distinguish  it  from  all  others  ?  Do 
not  these  qualities,  or  properties,  make  the  particular  object 
or  being  what  it  is,  and  not  something  else ;  and  when  we 
deny  all  these  qualities,  or  properties,  one  after  another, 
does  it  not  amount  to  denying  the  object  itself? 

What  would  you  say  of  a  people,  who  had  resolved  to 
give  themselves  a  king,  who  had  even  invested  a  man  with 
that  illustrious  dignity,  but  who,  from  some  motive,  should 
take  from  him  successively,  the  right  to  raise  armies,  and 
to  make  war  and  peace,  the  privilege  of  nominating  to 
offices,  and  the  revenues  necessary  to  sustain  his  dignity, 
and  finally  those  marks  of  respect,  which  his  title  appears 
to  demand  ?  You  would  say  that  this  people  had  no  king. 
In  vain  would  a  man  exist  among  them  whom  they  called 


ATHEISM   OF    THE    EPHESIANS.  131 

king ;  he  is  not  one,  since  he  cannot  be  such,  without  certain, 
qualities  and  prerogatives ;  which  qualities  and  preroga- 
tives he  has  not.  This  is  a  republic,  under  the  name  of  a 
monarchy. 

What,  in  like  manner,  would  you  say  of  a  man,  or  of  a 
society,  who  should  say,  we  acknowledge  a  God,  but  who 
should  refuse  to  that  God,  the  attributes  most  essential  to 
his  dignity,  and  most  inseparable  from  the  idea  of  his 
perfection  ;  and  reduce  him,  so  to  speak,  to  nothing  but  a 
name  ?  Assuredly,  you  would  say,  that  such  a  man,  and 
such  a  society,  do  not  believe  in  God,  and  that  under  the 
name  of  religion,  they  profess  atheism. 

Very  well,  it  will  be  said,  the  principle  is  incontestable ; 
but  who  dreams  of  disputing  it  ?  Is  there  in  the  world  any 
one,  so  unreasonable,  as  to  deny  the  perfections  of  God, 
such  as  his  goodness,  his  justice,  and  his  providence  ? 
Yes,  there  is  one  in  the  world  who  denies  them.  It  is  the 
Ephesian  before  his  conversion. 

Here  we  have  a  second  step  to  take.  We  have  seen 
that  to  deny  the  attributes,  essential  to  the  nature  of  God, 
is  to  deny  God ;  you  must  also  grant  us  now,  that  to  deny 
the  acts,  which  are  a  necessary  consequence  of  his  attri- 
butes, is  to  deny  those  attributes  themselves.  In  other 
words,  it  is  to  deny  the  perfections  of  God,  to  refuse  to  him 
the  exercise  of  these  perfections.  For  what  is  a  perfection 
without  its  exercise  ?  What  is  holiness  without  its  appli- 
cation ?  What  is  it  but  a  useless  power  ?  It  is  a  name, 
it  is  nothing. 

You  believe  in  the  justice  of  God,  St.  Paul  might  say 
to  the  Ephesians.  You  believe  then,  that  God  sustains, 
defends  and  vindicates  a  moral  order,  which  he  has  estab- 
lished, for  the  benefit  of  his  creatures,  and  for  his  own 
glory.  You  believe  that  this  justice,  being  infinite,  cannot 
be  satisfied,  but  by  an  obedience,  entire  and  unreserved. 
You  believe  that  this  justice,  being  spiritual,  demands  the 


132  ATHEISM   OF   THE    EPHESIANS. 

obedience,  not  of  the  hands  only,  but  of  the  heart,  and  the 
will.  You  believe,  that  this  justice  being  inviolable,  can 
receive  no  stain,  without  demanding  a  reparation,  sudden, 
complete,  absolute.  You  believe  all  this,  you  say  ;  conse- 
quently, you  believe  also,  that  your  sins  ought  to  be  pun- 
ished, that  your  heart  which  is  not  given  to  God,  ought  to 
be  condemned ;  that  your  penitence  effaces  none  of  your 
transgressions,  since  what  is  done  cannot  be  undone,  and 
violated  order  is  not  less  violated  ;  that  your  good  works 
can  no  more  do  so,  since  the  good  you  have  done  in  repar- 
ation of  your  sins,  ought  to  be  done  just  as  much  as  if 
you  had  no  sins  for  which  to  make  reparation.  You 
believe,  then,  that  you  are  condemned,  necessarily  con- 
demned. If  you  do  not  believe  it,  you  have  a  God  without 
justice,  that  is  to  say,  you  have  no  God. 

I  suppose,  however,  might  St.  Paul  say,  that  you  believe 
in  his  justice  ;  but  do  you  believe  in  his  goodness  ?  You 
believe  in  it,  you  say.  But  certainly  not  in  a  goodness 
limited,  mingled  with  weakness,  liable  to  change.  You 
believe  that  God  loves  his  creatures  with  an  everlasting 
love ;  that  no  tenderness  in  the  world,  not  even  that  of  a 
mother,  is  comparable  to  his ;  that  it  is  not  only  your  body, 
but  your  soul,  that  God  loves ;  and  that  this  love  is  as 
active  as  it  is  eternal.  Is  it  not  true,  that  you  believe  all 
this  ?  Ah !  who  does  not  believe  it ;  who  does  not  need 
to  believe  it  ?  Is  it  not  under  the  features  of  love,  that  you 
are  pleased  to  represent  the  Supreme  Being?  It  is  so. 
But  between  you  and  his  goodness,  what  frightful  phantom 
rises,  and  covers,  as  with  boding  wing,  his  face  full  of 
benignity?  It  is  the  phantom  of  his  justice,  the  image  of 
your  sins.  Try  to  invoke,  as  a  Father,  him  whom  you 
have  never  ceased  to  offend !  Try  to  believe  in  all  the 
goodness  of  God,  in  spite  of  his  vengeance  !#  Terrible 

*  Vengeance  here  means,  simply  the  administration  of  justice,  particu- 
larly in  the  infliction  of  punishment.  T. 


ATHEISM    OF    THE    EPHESIANS.  133 

alternative,  not  to  be  able  to  admit  the  goodness  of  God, 
without  denying  his  justice,  nor  to  believe  in  his  justice 
without  denying  his  goodness.  No,  not  to  you,  is  he  the 
gracious  God;  but  he  shall  be,  if  you  will  listen  to  the 
marvellous  fact,  we  are  charged  to  announce  to  you.  A 
Redeemer  has  been  found ;  the  great  mediation,  so  often 
shadowed  on  earth,  in  all  the  religions  of  the  nations,  has 
been  realized  in  heaven.  God  has  given  his  Son,  and  his 
Son  has  given  himself,  to  offer  to  his  Father,  the  only 
satisfaction  he  could  accept,  the  only  atonement  which 
could  be  efficacious,  the  only  reconciliation  which  "  recon- 
ciles all  things."  If  he  had  not  given  himself,  justice, 
which  nothing  can  arrest,  would  have  had  its  course.  But 
can  you,  who  have  not  received  Jesus  Christ,  believe  in 
God,  as  a  gracious  God?  Can  you,  from  the  depths  of 
your  misery  and  rejection,  cry  to  him,  "  Our  Father  who 
art  in  heaven?"  You  have  in  the  world,  a  master,  an 
accuser,  a  judge  ;  have  you  truly  a  God  ? 

You  believe  in  providence,  might  St.  Paul  say  to  the 
Ephesian.  Ah,  blessed  is  he  who  believes  in  so  great  a 
mystery  !  It  is  a  proof  that  he  has  passed  from  death  to 
life.  But  do  you  know  thoroughly,  what  it  is  to  believe  in 
providence  ?  Alas  !  I  doubt  it ;  for  why,  when  an  event 
occurs,  which  involves  your  welfare,  do  you  immediately 
speak  of  fate  or  chance  ?  And  why,  when  you  receive 
some  benefit  from  men,  does  your  gratitude  stop  with  them, 
instead  of  rising  to  the  Eternal?  And  why,  when  you 
receive  some  evil  from  them,  do  you  think  only  of  being 
indignant  towards  the  mortal  hand  which  strikes  you,  and 
never  think  of  adoring  with  awe  the  divine  authority,  with- 
out which  whose  permission  you  could  not  have  been 
struck?  And  why,  in  view  of  the  revolutions  of  the  world, 
do  you  perceive  nothing  but  secondary  causes,  which 
indeed  ought  to  be  carefully  studied,  but  from  which  you 
never  rise  to  the  Great  First  Cause  ?  Is  that  to  believe  in 


134  ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS. 

providence  ?  But  what  we  have  just  referred  to,  is  only 
a  part  of  the  sphere  of  the  activity  of  Jehovah.  If  he 
controls  the  world  of  things,  he  governs  also,  under  another 
name,  the  world  of  morals :  and  that  name  is  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Do  you  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit?  Do  you 
believe  that  from  him  proceed  all  good  resolutions  and  all 
good  thoughts  ?  Do  you  believe  that  his  influence  is  freely 
given  by  our  Heavenly  Father,  to  all  those  who  ask  it  ? 
It  would  seem  to  require  no  great  effort  to  believe  that. 
No  doctrine  is  more  reasonable.  We  cannot,  without 
absurdity,  deny  to  God,  who  has  made  our  minds,  the 
power  to  influence  and  direct  them.  But  if  you  do  not 
believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  that  quickening  soul  of  the 
moral  world,  I  ask  you,  what  God  do  you  possess  ? 

Behold,  my  brethren,  what  St.  Paul  might  have  said  to 
the  Ephesians  before  their  conversion.  Behold,  too,  what 
he  could  not  say  to  them,  after  their  conversion.  The 
Christian  sees  manifested,  and  developed,  in  perfect  har- 
mony, the  justice,  the  goodness,  and  the  providence  of 
God.  In  Jesus  Christ  they  are  consummated,  realized, 
enthroned.  In  him  the  divine  justice  has  been  accomplished, 
—  by  him  the  goodness  of  God  has  been  proclaimed,  —  by 
him,  in  fine,  the  government  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a 
moral  providence  have  been  placed  beyond  a  doubt. 
These  truths  are  the  whole  substance  and  aim  of  the  gos- 
pel. The  Christian  alone  knows  God;  the  Christian  alone 
has  a  God. 

I  feel  as  much  as  any  one,  all  that  is  paradoxical  and 
harsh,  which  such  an  assertion  at  the  first  moment  presents. 
But  I  ask,  what  is  that  God,  who  should  have  no  right 
either  to  our  adoration,  our  confidence,  or  our  love  ?  And, 
indeed,  how  can  we  adore  a  God,  whose  justice,  pliable 
and  soft,  should  accommodate  itself  to  the  corruption  of  our 
hearts,  and  the  perversity  of  our  thoughts  ?  How,  on  the 
other  hand,  love  a  God,  whom  we  could  not  behold,  but 


ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS.  135 

under  the  aspect,  and  with  the  attributes  of  a  severe  and 
inexorable  judge  ?  How  could  we  confide  in  a  God,  who, 
indifferent  to  our  temporal  interests,  and  to  those  of  our 
souls,  should  exercise  no  supervision  over  our  conduct  and 
destiny  ?  And,  we  ask  once  more,  what  is  a  God,  whom 
we  can  neither  know,  adore,  nor  love  ?  In  truth,  my 
brethren,  for  it  serves  little  purpose  to  soften  the  words, 
the  profession  of  the  faith  of  the  Ephesian  is  an  involun- 
tary profession  of  atheism.  St.  Paul  might  say  to  him, 
do  not  exile  your  God,  amid  the  splendors  of  a  distant  glory, 
whence  the  sun  of  righteousness  can  never  warm  the  moral 
world,  and  shed  upon  it  the  purifying  influence  of  its  rays ; 
or,  if  such  be  the  God  you  wish,  do  not,  I  pray  you,  mock 
yourselves  so  cruelly ;  and  at  least  respect,  by  never  pro- 
nouncing a  name,  which  you  can  no  longer  regard  as  holy. 
Or  rather  pronounce  it  unceasingly,  as  the  name  of  a 
being  for  ever  absent,  and  lost ;  cultivate,  and  so  to  speak,, 
enhance,  by  your  tears,  that  idea,  the  grandeur  of  which 
will  remind  you  of  your  destitution ;  but  do  not  abuse,  do 
not  flatter  yourselves,  by  imagining  you  have  a  God,  when 
you  have  nothing  more  than  the  idea.  Acknowledge  to 
yourselves,  not  that  the  universe  has  no  God,  a  thing  you 
have  never  been  able  to  doubt,  but  that  you,  in  some  sense, 
fallen  below  the  rest  of  created  beings,  are  without  God  in 
the  world. 

Behold,  what  reason,  honestly  interrogated,  furnishes  us 
touching  the  religion  of  the  Ephesian  before  his  conver- 
sion. But  as  his  religion,  such  also  will  his  life  be.  For 
it  is  impossible  that  he  that  is  without  God  in  the  world 
should  live  like  him  who  has  a  God.  And  to  prove  it,  we 
do  not  require  to  develop  to  you  his  moral  conduct,  and 
show  you  how  far  he  is  removed  from  that  holiness  of 
which  God  is  at  once  the  source,  the  motive,  and  the  model. 
Without  running  over  the  whole  circle  of  his  relations,  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  what  he  is  with  relation  to  God  ;  in  other 


136  ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS. 

words,  to  point  out  the  place  which  God  occupies  in  his 
moral  life.  That  place,  alas  !  how  small  it  is  !  The  idea 
of  God  is  neither  the  centre  of  his  thoughts,  nor  the  soul  of 
his  life,  but  an  idea  accessory,  supernumerary,  very  often 
importunate,  and  associated  indifferently  with  his  other 
thoughts.  If  God  did  not  exist  at  all,  the  circle  of  his  ideas 
would  not  be  less  complete,  nor  his  reason  less  satisfied. 
When  he  is  occupied  with  the  idea  of  God,  it  is  as  a  simple 
view  of  the  intellect,  not  as  a  real  fact,  which  determines 
the  aim  of  existence,  and  the  value  of  life.  He  applies  it 
less  to  practical  purposes  than  the  astronomer  the  figure  of 
the  earth,  the  course  of  th»s  stars,  and  the  measure  of  the 
heavens.  His  belief  in  God  is  almost  purely  negative.  It 
permits  God  to  exist,  not  being  able  to  do  otherwise ;  but 
this  belief  neither  controls  his  life  nor  regulates  his  conduct. 
He  believes  in  God ;  he  says  so  when  occasion  requires  it ; 
but  it  does  not  gratify  him  to  speak  of  it  to  his  family  or 
his  friends ;  he  never  entertains  his  children  with  it,  and 
he  makes  no  use  of  it  in  their  education.  In  a  word,  his 
thought  is  not  full  of  God,  does  not  live  upon  God ;  so 
that  we  might  say  of  him,  in  this  first  relation,  that  he  is 
without  God  in  the  world. 

Yet  there  is  one  voice  in  the  universe.  The  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God ;  though  they  have  no  language, 
properly  speaking,  their  voice  is  heard,  even  by  the  dullest 
ear;  and  through  the  ear,  that  voice  sometimes  penetrates 
to  the  heart.  Yes,  in  view  of  that  magnificent  aspect  of 
nature,  all  full  of  love  and  life,  the  heart  of  the  Ephesian 
is  sometimes  softened.  I  will  not  ask  him,  why,  in  gazing 
upon  these  beauties,  his  heart  soon  aches,  and  his  bosom 
heaves  with  sighs ;  I  will  not  ask  him  whence  comes  that 
involuntary  sadness,  which  succeeds  the  rapture  of  the 
first  view.  I  will  not  say  that  what  then  weighs  upon  his 
thoughts  is  the  contrast  between  nature  so  beautiful,  and  a 
soul  degraded ;  between  an  order  so  perfect,  and  the  disor- 


ATHEISM   OF    THE    EPHESIANS.  137 

der  of  his  feelings  and  thoughts ;  between  that  exuberance 
of  life,  spread  through  immensity,  and  the  consciousness  of 
a  fallen  existence,  which  dares  not  reflect  upon  its  duration. 
I  will  not  ask  him  to  observe  that  this  feeling  is  so  appro- 
priate to  a  soul  like  his,  that  he  recurs  to  it  at  each  emotion 
of  joy,  as  to  a  signal,  appointed  to  poison  and  to  tarnish  it. 
And  I  will  not  conclude,  as  I  might  do,  that  all  this  comes 
from  the  fact,  that  God  is  absent.  No,  I  shall  only  ask, 
What  is  that  emotion  ?  What  does  it  prove  ?  Does  it  give 
you  a  God  ?  Alas,  that  confused  feeling  has  moved  the 
souls  of  millions  who  have  gazed  upon  these  beauties,  and 
has  left  them  such  as  they  were.  Nature,  which  excites 
alternately  pleasure  and  pain,  regenerates  no  one.  Observe 
the  Ephesian,  whom  it  has  touched.  That  fleeting  emo- 
tion, as  soon  as  dissipated,  restores  him  wholly  to  the 
world.  Even  if  he  rendered  worship  to  his  Creator,  his 
life  is  not  a  worship ;  it  is  not  devoted  to  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth.  His  conduct  obeys  a  thousand  impulses 
by  turns,  but  he  does  not  know  the  meaning  of  that  admi- 
rable precept,  "  Whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  for  the  Lord,  and 
not  for  man ;  glorify  God  in  your  spirits,  and  in  your 
bodies,  which  are  his."  It  is  not  for  God  that  he  is  a 
literary  man,  a  merchant,  an  artizan,  a  man  of  property,  a 
laborer,  a  citizen,  or  the  head  of  a  family ;  it  is  for  himself. 
He  is  his  own  God  and  his  own  law. 

Events  adverse  and  prosperous  come  by  turns.  They 
succeed  each  other  without  interruption,  and  always  find 
him  without  God.  Happy, — he  has  no  emotion  of  grati- 
tude to  the  Lord.  Unhappy, — he  does  not  receive  the 
occasion  of  it  as  a  reproof  or  a  counsel.  Sick, — he  thinks 
not  of  the  great  Physician.  Dying, — he  has  no  hope  of 
heaven.  In  a  word,  that  thought  of  God  which  must  be 
every  thing  or  nothing  in  the  life,  is  nothing  in  his;  noth- 
ing, at  least,  worth  estimating.  He  yields  nothing  to  it, 
12 


138  ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS. 

sacrifices  nothing,  offers  nothing.  And,  after  all  this,  he 
will  tell  us  that  he  has  a  God ! 

But  we  have  spoken  long  enough  of  this  imaginary 
being,  this  unregenerate  Ephesian.  Are  there,  in  your 
opinion,  no  skeptics  but  in  Ephesus  ?  Is  there  no  heath- 
enism but  in  the  heathen  world  ?  Is  the  portrait  we  have 
drawn  applicable  only  to  an  extinct  race  ?  And  is  it  not 
applicable  to  those  thousands,  alas !  to  those  millions  of  the 
heathen  of  Christianity,  who  also  live  without  God  in  the 
world?  Let  there  be  no  delusion  here;  this  description 
is  either  false  or  true.  False,  it  applies  to  no  one,  and  to 
the  Ephesian  idolater  no  more  than  another ;  true,  it  has 
its  originals  in  all  ages,  in  all  countries,  and,  without  doubt, 
also  among  us. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  make  but  one  class  of  all  the 
persons  who  do  not  believe  the  gospel.  There  are  those 
among  them  who  are  climbing  towards  the  truth,  with  a 
slow,  but  persevering  pace.  There  is  already  something 
of  Christianity  in  those  serious  and  tender  souls,  who  are 
seeking,  on  all  sides,  another  God  than  that  which  the 
world  has  provided  for  them.  For  already,  without  having 
a  clear  notion  of  the  gospel,  they  have  received  from  the 
Holy  Spirit  a  secret  impulse,  which  urges  them  to  seek  a 
God,  invested  with  those  attributes  which  the  gospel  has 
revealed,  a  God  of  infinite  justice,  a  God  of  infinite  good- 
ness, a  God  of  providence.  Religion  stretches  out  her 
hands  to  them,  and  salutes  them  with  a  gentle  name,  even 
at  the  time  they  would  seem  to  resist  her ;  for  she  discerns 
in  them  a  thirst  for  righteousness  and  peace,  which  she 
only  is  capable  of  satisfying.  And  she  waits  for  the  happy 
moment,  when,  recognizing  the  striking  harmony  between 
the  Christian  revelations  and  the  imperfect  revelations  they 
have  received  from  the  voice  within,  these  Christians  by 
anticipation,  these  Christians  by  desire  and  want,  shall 
become  such  in  fact  and  profession. 


ATHEISM  OF  THE  EPHESIANS.  139 

But  this  takes  nothing  from  the  truth  we  have  estab- 
lished, touching  the  unbeliever  who  is  living  without  God 
in  the  world.  And  whither  would  this  lead  us,  were  we 
to  pursue  the  subject?  We  have  spoken  only  of  his 
opinions,  of  his  interior  feelings.  And  his  actions,  do  not 
they  prove  that  his  thoughts,  according  to  the  energetic 
language  of  the  prophet,  are  all  as  if  there  were  no  God? 
This  I  should  aim  to  show,  if  the  limits  of  this  discourse 
permitted  it.  I  should  discover  it  to  you,  as  much  in  the 
virtuous  as  in  the  vicious  unbeliever.  I  should  show  you 
in  both  the  same  forgetfulness  of  God,  the  same  indiffer- 
ence to  his  glory,  the  same  idolatry  of  self.  But  a  subject 
of  such  importance  requires  space.  It  is  not  in  a  few 
words  that  we  can  clear  up  all  the  difficulties  with  which 
it  is  connected. 

But  why  do  I  occupy  your  attention  with  these  things? 
Have  they  reference  to  you  ?  Or  is  this  sermon  not  made 
rather  for  a  pagan  than  for  a  Christian  temple?  But  is  it 
that  doubt  and  error  never  come  to  sit  in  a  Christian 
church?  They  may  enter  thither  to  seek  for  light!  God 
bless  so  good  an  intention,  for  there  is  piety  even  in  that ! 
In  such  a  case,  it  is  proper  to  speak  of  these  things.  But 
even  in  an  audience,  all  the  members  of  which  are  pene- 
trated with  the  truths  I  have  discussed,  such  a  subject  is 
also  appropriate.  The  Christian  cannot  but  gain  some- 
thing by  inquiring  diligently  into  the  foundations  and 
privileges  of  his  faith.  He  ought  to  love  to  review  the 
titles  of  his  adoption.  He  ought  also  to  learn  how  to 
exhibit  them  with  dignity,  and  explain  them  with  gentle- 
ness, to  those  who  ask  from  him  an  account  of  his  glorious 
hope.  And  although  the  gospel  can  prove  itself  true  by 
its  own  power,  and  without  any  human  aid,  to  a  soul 
thirsting  for  righteousness,  nevertheless  the  examination  of 
these  proofs,  so  rich  and  so  beautiful,  is  a  natural  means 
which  God  often  uses  to  produce  or  confirm  faith.  May 


140  ATHEISM   OF    THE    EPHESIANS. 

such,  in  some  degree,  be  the  effect  of  this  discourse.  May 
you  return  to  your  houses,  more  convinced  and  affected 
with  the  wonderful  attractions  of  the  gospel.  May  you 
exclaim  with  the  sacred  poet,  "  O  God,  I  rejoice  in  thy 
word  as  one  that  hath  found  great  spoil.  It  shall  be  a  lamp 
to  my  feet,  and  a  light  to  my  path.  Thou  hast  made  me 
to  know  the  way  of  life.  I  shall  ever  be  with  thee ;  thou 
hast  held  me  by  thy  right  hand.  Thou  wilt  guide  me  by 
thy  counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory !  " 


IX. 
GRACE  AND  LA¥. 

"By  grace  ye  are  saved." — EPH.  2 :  5. 

IN  no  language  is  there  a  more  attractive  word  than 
grace  ;  in  the  gospel,  there  is  none  more  offensive  to  the 
men  of  the  world.  The  idea  of  being  saved  by  grace  offends 
their  pride,  shocks  their  reason.  And  they  prefer,  a  thou- 
sand times,  to  the  word  grace,  so  sweet  and  touching,  that 
of  law,  so  formidable  and  severe.  They  desire  us  to  speak 
to  them  of  the  precepts  of  the  gospel,  of  the  morality  of 
the  gospel,  but  they  are  not  pleased  when  we  call  their 
attention  to  the  gratuitous  pardon  it  announces.  We  shall 
not,  at  present,  explain  the  causes  of  this  predilection  and  of 
this  repugnance,  which  appear  to  contradict  the  deepest 
tendencies  of  human  nature.  But  we  shall  endeavor  to  show 
that,  so  far  from  these  two  things,  grace  and  law,  being 
irreconcilable,  the  one  conducts  necessarily  to  the  other ; 
that  the  law  conducts  to  grace,  and  grace,  in  its  turn,  leads 
back  to  the  law. 

After  we  have  deduced  this  truth  from  the  very  nature 
of  things,  we  shall  appeal  to  experience,  and  enable  you  to 
see  that  whosoever  truly  admits  the  one  never  fails  to  admit 
12* 


142  GRACE   AND   LAW. 

also  the  other.  Thus,  if  it  should  please  God  to  aid  us,  one 
of  the  principal  objections  which  the  world  raises  against 
the  gospel  will  be  removed. 

I  say,  then,  that  the  law  conducts  naturally  to  grace.  To 
convince  you  of  this,  will  you  consider  the  law  with  refer- 
ence to  four  things,  or  four  points  of  view  which  it  offers  to 
our  contemplation  ? — its  nature,  its  extent,  its  authoritative 
character,  and  finally,  its  sanction  or  guaranty. 

If  you  consider  the  nature  of  this  law,  you  will  see  that 
the  question  has  little  to  do  with  ceremonies,  customs,  and 
external  performances.  Upon  this  point  there  is  no  differ- 
ence of  opinion.  If  these  things  were  commanded  by 
Heaven,  they  would  doubtless  form  a  part  of  our  duties. 
But  the  law,  such  as  Christians  and  even  pagans  conceive 
of  it,  is  the  moral  law,  the  law  which  subjects  the  life  to 
the  conscience.  And  this  law  commands  us,  not  merely  to 
act  justly,  but  to  be  just ;  not  only  to  do  right,  but  to  feel 
right ;  that  is  to  say,  it  demands  our  heart. 

As  to  the  extent  of  this  law,  a  word  will  suffice ;  it  is  the 
law  of  perfection.  He  who  understands  it,  resembles  that 
hero  so  frequently  celebrated  in  history,  who  believed  that 
he  had  done  nothing,  so  long  as  any  thing  remained  for  him 
to  do.  No  relation  of  his  life,  no  moment  of  his  career,  no 
part  of  his  duty,  can  be  withdrawn  from  this  universal 
empire  of  the  moral  law.  To  obey  in  every  thing,  to  obey 
always,  to  obey  perfectly,  such  is  the  unchangeable  rule  of 
his  conduct.1* 

*That  this  is  a  just  view  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  perfection,  which 
is  the  absence  of  all  sin;  and  the  possession  of  all  virtue,  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  our  happiness.  God  cannot  require  less  of  his  creatures  than 
what  will  secure  their  permanent  well-being.  The  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  and  the  angels  of  God,  are  happy  because  they  are  holy. 
They  "  obey  in  every  thing,  obey  always,  obey  perfectly."  Hence  we  are 
enjoined  to  pray,  "Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  Our 
heavenly  Father,  then,  has  given  us  a  perfect  law,  in  order  that  he  may 
secure  for  us  a  perfect  felicity.  He  has  forbidden  all  wrong,  he  enjoins  all 
virtue  j  for  all  wrong  is  injurious,  all  virtue  is  beneficial.  One  sin,  sane- 


GRACE    AND   LAW.  143 

In  the  third  place,  this  is  not  a  mere  choice,  a  plan,  or  a 
calculation,  on  his  part ;  he  is  bound  to  the  law  by  the 
chains  of  an  imperious  and  absolute  obligation.  In  his 
eyes,  the  only  thing  necessary  is  to  obey.  Happiness, 
power,  life,  are  not  the  end,  but  the  means  of  fulfilling  the 
moral  law.  The  question  with  him  is  not  about  enjoyment, 
or  power,  or  life,  but  about  obedience.  The  laws  of  nature 
may  change,  those  of  duty  remain.  The  universe  may 
dissolve,  the  moral  law  continues.  In  the  confusion  of  all 
things,  and  amid  universal  disorder,  the  will  to  do  right 
does  not  cease  to  belong  to  him ;  and  his  activity  would  fail 
of  its  objects,  and  his  efforts  of  their  end,  if  he  did  not 
for  ever  feel  under  obligation  to  be  righteous. 

That  he  may  never  forget  it,  a  sanction  is  attached  to  the 
law.  Happiness  has  been  invariably  attached  to  obedience, 
misery  to  disobedience.  On  earth,  disgust,  remorse,  and 
terror,  indicate  to  rebellious  man  the  most  terrible  punish- 
ments concealed  in  the  shadows  of  the  future.  "  The  wrath 
of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  every  soul  of  man 
that  doeth  evil." 

Try  to  deduct  any  thing  from  this  formidable  enumera- 
tion ;  try,  and  you  will  see,  with  each  attempt,  the  burden 
aggravated  by  new  weights.  Say  that  obedience  has  its 
limits,  and  we  shall  ask  you  to  point  them  out.  Say  that 
a  compromise  may  be  made  between  heaven  and  earth,  and 
we  shall  demand,  by  virtue  of  what  authority  you  dare  to 
make  such  a  compromise.  Say  that  each  man  has  his 
standard,  and  we  shall  inquire  of  each  one  of  you,  if  he  has 

tioned  or  permitted,  one  virtue,  neglected  or  not  commanded,  would 
tarnish  our  felicity,  and  introduce  disorder  into  the  divine  administration. 
The  law,  then,  is  the  law  of  perfection.  It  has  no  limits  but  those  of  pos- 
sibility. It  forbids  all  sin,  it  enjoins  all  purity,  in  thought,  word  and  deed. 
Like  its  author,  it  is  "  holy,  just  and  good,"  and  therefore  immutable  and 
eternal.  If,  then,  it  bears  severely  upon  us,  if  it  condemns  us  utterly  and 
irrevocably,  this  only  proves  that  we  need  pardon  and  regeneration. 

T. 


144  GRACE   AND   LAW. 

reached  that  standard.  Say,  that  God  has  no  need  of  your 
sacrifices,  we  shall  wish  to  know  if  the  commandments  of 
God  are  regulated  by  his  needs ;  and  we  shall  compel  you 
to  acknowledge,  that  on  such  a  supposition,  God  would  not 
command  any  thing,  since  assuredly  God  has  no  need  of 
any  thing.  Say  that  many  of  the  duties  imposed  upon 
you  are  doubtful;  but  whence  come  the  greater  part  of 
these  doubts,  if  not  from  your  reluctance  to  obey  ?  More- 
over, do  you  fulfil  those  duties  of  which  you  do  not  doubt  ? 
Say  that  obedience  is  impossible ;  but  sh  ow  us  how,  while 
you  find  it  impossible,  it  yet  appears  to  you  highly  reason- 
able ;  show  us  why  your  conscience  persists  in  declaring 
authoritative  a  law,  which  your  experience  declares  imprac- 
ticable ;  show  us  why,  after  each  transgression,  you  have  in 
vain  said,  I  could  not  have  done  otherwise  ;  and  why 
remorse  does  not  cry  the  less  vehemently  in  your  soul. 
Remove  this  contradiction,  if  you  can  ;  as  for  us,  we  cannot 
remove  it. 

To  present  to  God  our  bodies  and  spirits  a  living  and 
holy  sacrifice ;  to  devote  to  him  our  whole  life ;  to  seek 
nothing  but  his  approbation ;  "  to  love  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves ;  to  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it ;" — such  is  a  feeble 
sketch,  a  rapid  outline  of  the  divine  law.  Let  others  seek 
to  efface,  to  obliterate  the  distinctive  features  ;  we  shall 
deepen  the  impression.  Let  them  seek  to  lighten  the  burden, 
we  shall  press  it  with  all  our  might.  We  shall,  if  possible, 
overwhelm  with  it  the  presumptuous  creature  who  seeks  to 
shake  it  off,  in  order  that,  under  the  oppressive  weight  of 
this  terrible  and  inexorable  law,  he  may  utter  that  desirable 
and  salutary  cry  which  implores  grace,  and  to  which  the 
gospel  alone  has  responded. 

If,  then,  you  have  formed  a  just  idea  of  the  moral  law,  if 
you  have  accepted  it,  not  enfeebled  and  mutilated,  but  in  all 
its  strictness  and  majesty,  you  will  acknowledge  yourselves 
violators  of  that  divine  law.  You  will  feel  yourselves  capa- 


GRACE    AND   LAW.  145 

ble  neither  of  fulfilling  all  its  precepts  together,  nor  even 
one  of  them  in  a  manner  full  and  perfect ;  and  in  the  pro- 
found conviction  of  your  misery  and  danger,  you  will  either 
abandon  yourselves  to  an  inconsolable  despair,  or  you  will 
cast  yourselves  at  the  foot  of  the  eternal  throne,  and  beg 
grace  and  pardon  from  the  Judge  of  your  life. 

It  is  thus  the  law  leads  to  grace.  But  observe  particu- 
larly that  I  have  not  said  that  the  law  explains  grace.  The 
work  of  redemption  is  a  mystery,  and  will  always  remain 
a  mystery ;  the  gospel  itself  only  announces  it,  does  not 
explain  it.  All  I  meant  to  say  is,  that  to  him  who  contem- 
plates the  holy  image  of  the  law,  there  is  an  imperious 
necessity  to  rely  on  grace  or  perish  in  his  sins. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  St.  Paul  has  again  exclaimed, 
"  Do  we  make  void  the  law,  through  faith?  God  forbid  ! 
yea,  we  establish  law."  This  is  the  second  truth  we  have 
announced ;  grace,  in  its  turn,  leads  back  to  the  law. 

In  the  first  place,  you  will  consider  that  grace,  as  it  is 
manifested  in  the  gospel,  is  the  most  splendid  homage,  the 
most  solemn  consecration,  which  the  law  can  receive.  This 
grace  is  of  a  peculiar  character.  It  is  not  the  soft  indulgence, 
and  the  easy  indifference  of  a  feeble  father,  who,  tired  of 
his  own  severity,  shuts  his  eyes  to  the  faults  of  a  guilty 
child.  It  is  not  the  weakness  of  a  timid  government, 
which,  unable  to  repress  disorder,  lets  the  laws  sleep,  and 
goes  to  sleep  along  with  them.  It  is  a  holy  goodness  ;  it  is 
a  love  without  feebleness,  which  pardons  guilt,  and  exe- 
cutes justice,  at  the  same  time.  It  is  not  possible,  that  God, 
who  is  the  supreme  sanction  of  order,  should  tolerate  the 
shadow  of  disorder,  and  leave  unpunished  the  least  infrac- 
tion of  the  holy  laws  he  has  given.  Thus,  in  the  work  of 
which  we  speak,  condemnation  appears  in  the  pardon,  and 
pardon  in  the  condemnation.  The  same  act  proclaims'*  the 
compassion  of  God,  and  the  inflexibility  of  his  justice. 

God  could  not  save  us  without  assuming  our  nature,  nor 


146  GRACE   AND   LAW. 

assume  our  nature,  without  sharing  our  misery.  The 
cross,  the  triumph  of  grace,  is  the  triumph  of  law.  Pen- 
etrate this  great  mystery,  and  you  will  acknowledge  that 
nothing  is  more  beyond  reason,  and  yet  nothing  more 
conformed  to  it.  Among  all  the  inventions  of  men,  you 
will  seek  in  vain,  for  another  idea,  which  exhibits  in  har- 
mony, all  the  attributes  which  compose  the  perfection  of 
God.* 

*  To  every  unsophisticated  reader  of  the  Scriptures,  nothing  can  be  more 
evident,  than  the  sacrificial,  or  substitutionary  character  of  our  Saviour's 
sufferings.  That  Christ  was  sinless,  all  will  admit ;  that  he  was  treated 
as  if  he  were  a  sinner  j  that  he  was  thus  treated  by  the  appointment  of 
God,  as  well  as  his  own  voluntary  choice,  and  that  his  sufferings  were  a 
part  of  a  great  scheme,  devised  by  infinite  wisdom,  for  the  redemptiou  of 
man,  will  also  be  acknowledged.  Moreover,  that  he  suffered  for  us,  suf- 
fered what  we  ought  to  have  suffered  a  thousand  times  over,  but  which  we 
could  not  have  suffered,  without  utter  perdition,  and  that  God  accepts  his 
sufferings,  not  as  a  full,  or  commercial  equivalent  for  our  punishment,  but 
as  an  expiation,  or  atonement  for  our  sins,  on  the  ground  of  which,  our 
faith  in  Christ  is  accounted  for  righteousness,  and  procures  for  us  pardon 
and  eternal  life,  will  scarcely  be  denied  by  any  serious  and  candid  believer 
in  divine  revelation.  "  He  who  knew  no  sin  was  made  sin  for  us,  that  we 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  Here  then  is  the 
sinless  suffering  for  the  sinful,  the  innocent  dying  for  the  guilty  j  and  if 
this  be  not  sacrifice,  expiation,  substitution,  we  know  not  what  is.  The 
case  indeed  is  peculiar.  There  is  nothing  like  it,  there  can  be  nothing 
like  it,  in  the  transactions  of  men.  But  the  infinite  Jehovah,  the  supreme 
sovereign  of  the  universe,  the  source  and  embodiment  of  all  law,  as  well 
as  of  all  grace,  may  accept  such  a  sacrifice,  in  place  of  the  direct  execution 
of  his  laws,  and  present  it  to  the  world,  as  his  selected  plan  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  guilty.  Thus  is  he  just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that 
believe th  in  Jesus.  The  fitness  and  efficiency  of  such  an  appointment 
are  shown  in  its  effects.  A  priori  it  might  seem  foolishness,  but  experience 
has  proved  it  to  be  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God,  not  only 
for  the  relief,  but  for  the  reformation  of  them  that  believe.  Our  author, 
then,  is  justified  in  speaking  of  the  cross  of  Christ  as  an  exhibition  of  jus- 
tice and  of  grace.  While  it  relieves  the  conscience  of  the  sinner  from 
the  burden  of  guilt,  and  inspires  him  with  an  immortal  hope,  it  strikes  a 
death-blow  at  his  sin,  and  penetrates  his  heart  with  gratitude  and  love. 
"A  cold  and  skeptical  philosophy,"  says  Robert  Hall,  Works, Vol.  I,  p. 
277,  "  may  suggest  specious  cavils  against  the  doctrines  of  revelation  upon 
this  subject;  cavils  which  derive  all  their  force,  not  from  the  superior 


GRACE    AND   LAW.  147 

Thus,  then,  in  the  idea  of  evangelical  grace,  the  moral 
law  is  found  highly  glorified.  Why  should  it  not  be 
found  equally  glorified,  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  receive 
grace  ?  How  can  we  believe  seriously,  in  that  bloody 
expiation,  without  perceiving  all  that  is  odious  in  sin, 
vowing  towards  it  a  profound  hatred,  and  desiring,  if  I  may 
so  express  it,  to  do  honor  to  that  ineffable  and  unmerited 
grace  ?  What !  has  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  and  can  we 
love  our  sins  !  What !  has  Christ  died  because  there  is  a 
law,  and  shall  we  not  feel  ourselves  bound  to  redouble, 
and  constantly  to  renew  our  respect,  for  the  law  ?  Human 
nature  must  have  lost  all  its  essential  traits,  all  the  fibres 
of  the  heart  must  have  been  broken,  when  the  conviction 
of  so  great  a  benefit  has  failed  to  excite  all  our  love  ;  and 
it  would  be  a  strange  love,  which  did  not  produce  obedi- 
ence. He  who  says  in  his  heart,  "  Let  us  sin,  that  grace 
may  abound !"  must  be  a  man,  who  has  neither  understood 
nor  received  grace ;  for  the  natural  and  reasonable  conclu- 
sion is  this,  since  grace  abounds,  let  us  sin  no  more  1  Thus, 
as  I  said,  at  the  commencement  of  these  remarks,  grace 
leads  back  to  the  law. 

I  say  more  than  this ;  I  say  that  it  alone  leads  thither. 
Of  this  you  will  have  no  doubt,  if  you  consider  attentively 
what  the  law  is.  The  law  is  not  perfectly  fulfilled,  except 
by  love.  But  love  is  not  commanded,  it  is  inspired.  The 
severest  injunctions,  and  the  most  formidable  threatenings 
could  not  create,  in  the  soul,  a  single  emotion  of  tender- 
wisdom  of  their  authors,  but  solely  from  the  inadequacy  of  human  reason 
to  the  full  comprehension  of  heavenly  mysteries.  But  still  there  is  a  sim- 
ple grandeur  in  the  fact,  that  God  has  set  forth  his  Son  to  be  a  propitiation , 
sufficient  to  silence  the  impotent  clamors  of  sophistry,  and  to  carry  to  all 
serious  and  humble  men  a  firm  conviction,  that  the  law  is  exalted,  and 
the  justice  of  God  illustriously  vindicated  and  asserted  by  sucli  an  expe- 
dient. To  minds  of  that  description,  the  immaculate  purity  of  the  divine 
character,  its  abhorrence  of  sin,  and  its  inflexible  adherence  to  moral  order, 
will  present  themselves  in  the  cross,  in  a  more  impressive  light  than  in 
any  other  object."  T. 


148  GRACE    AND   LAW. 

ness  to  God ;  love  alone  gives  birth  to  love.  Thus,  as  long 
as  we  have  before  us  only  the  law  with  its  threatenings, 
we  do  not  fulfil  it  in  the  spirit  by  which  it  ought  to  be 
fulfilled,  that  is,  we  do  not  fulfil  it  at  all.  The  gospel  has 
said  that,  "  love  casteth  out  fear;"  it  is  also  just  to  say,  that 
fear  casteth  out  love ;  for  we  cannot  love  when  we  fear. 
It  is  the  privilege,  and  glory  of  the  gospel,  to  give  to  the 
soul  enlargement,  and  freedom ;  grace  being  proclaimed, 
and  fear  banished,  we  dare  love,  we  can  love.  "  I  will  run 
in  the  way  of  thy  commandments,"  says  the  Psalmist, 
"whenthou  shalt  enlarge  my  heart."  The  heart  opens 
and  expands,  under  the  gentle  warmth  of  divine  love,  and 
the  sweet  rays  of  hope.  Obedience  becomes  joyous;  it  is 
no  longer  a  painful  effort,  but  a  spontaneous  and  involun- 
tary soaring  of  the  renovated  soul.  As  the  waves  of  a 
river,  once  impelled  in  the  direction  of  their  channel,  do 
not  require,  every  moment,  a  new  impulse,  to  continue 
therein,  so  the  life,  which  has  received  the  impulse  of  love, 
is  borne  away  entire,  and  with  rapid  waves,  towards  the 
ocean  of  the  divine  will,  where  it  loves  to  be  swallowed  up 
and  lost.  Thus  perfect  obedience  is  the  fruit  only  of  love, 
and  love  is  the  fruit  only  of  grace. 

This  idea  receives  additional  force,  from  a  more  complete 
view  of  grace.  Grace  is  something  more  than  pardon ; 
pardon  is  only  the  inauguration  of  grace.  God  exercises 
grace  towards  us,  when  he  forgives  our  sins ;  and  he  exer- 
cises it  again,  when  he  acts  upon  our  hearts,  to  incline,  and 
form  them  to  obedience ;  or,  if  you  prefer  it  so,  when  he 
cherishes,  and  perpetuates  the  first  impressions  we  have 
received  from  his  mercy  ;  when  he  incessantly  awakens  in 
us  the  recollection,  the  idea,  the  feeling  of  these  impres- 
sions ;  when  he  prevents  the  dust  and  gravel  from  obstruct- 
ing the  blessed  fountain  he  has  caused  to  spring  from  the 
rock,  cleft  asunder  by  his  divine  hand.  All  this  he  has 
promised  ;  all  this  he  has  pledged  to  us  ;  all  this,  then,  is 


GRACE    AND   LAW.  149 

grace.  But  what  effect  will  such  promises,  such  assurance 
have  upon  the  heart,  but  to  soften  and  encourage  it?  What 
disposition  will  he  be  likely  to  cherish  towards  God,  who 
knows  not  only  that  God  has  loved  him  once,  but  that  he 
loves  him  always,  that  he  thinks  of  him,  provides  for  him, 
watches  over  him  continually,  conducts  him  gently  and 
carefully,  as  a  shepherd  conducts  one  of  his  flock,  from  the 
mountain,  to  the  plain,  bears  him  in  his  arms,  and  caresses 
him,  as  a  nurse  bears  and  caresses  a  child ;  in  a  word,  to 
borrow  the  language  of  Scripture,  "  is  afflicted  in  all  his 
afflictions  ?"  *  This,  we  repeat,  is  grace !  Is  it,  or  is  it 
not,  favorable  to  the  law  ?  In  other  words,  is  it  adapted  to 
develop,  or  is  it  only  fitted  to  stifle  in  us,  the  principle  of 
love? 

Who,  having  considered  the  nature  of  the  law  and  of 
grace,  can  now  say,  that  law  and  grace  are  incompatible  ? 
The  matter  is  beyond  dispute.  But  we  have  a  corrobora- 
tion  of  this  truth  in  experience.  It  fully  confirms  what 
reason  has  already  proved. 

In  the  first  place^  we  affirm  that  those  who  admit  grace , 
admit  also  the  law.  Here,  it  is  quite  evident,  we  do  not 
speak  of  that  dry  dogmatism,  that  dead  orthodoxy,  which  is 
no  more  Christianity,  than  a  statue  is  a  man.  We  grant 
that  there  is  a  way  of  receiving  the  doctrines  of  the  church 
which  leaves  them  without  influence  upon  the  life.  But 
we  speak  only  of  those  whose  Christianity  is  vital,  of  those 
who  have  accepted  grace,  with  the  same  feeling,  that  a 
shipwrecked  mariner  seizes  the  saving  plank,  which  is  to 
sustain  him  above  the  waves  and  carry  him  to  the  shore. 
Well,  have  you  remarked,  that  those  Christians  by  con- 
viction and  feeling,  who  confess  that  they  are  saved  only 
by  grace,  have  less  respect  than  others  for  the  law  ?  On 
the  contrary,  have  you  not  observed  that  what  distinguishes 

"Isaiah  63:  14.  66:12.  63:9. 

13 


150  GRACE    AND   LAW. 

them,  is  precisely  their  attachment  and  zeal  for  the  law  ? 
And  yet,  strange  to  tell !  some  have  succeeded,  by  means 
of  certain  sophisms,  in  spreading  the  idea  that  the  doctrine 
of  such  Christians  is  subversive  of  morality,  that  their  faith 
is  a  pillow  of  security,  that  it  extinguishes  the  necessity  for 
good  works,  and  opens  the  door  to  every  vice.  But  their 
conduct  has  refuted  all  these  sophisms.  The  flesh  might 
say,  let  us  sin,  for  grace  abounds,  but  the  spirit  teaches 
them  a  very  different  logic.  It  is  true,  they  expect  every 
thing  from  grace,  but  they  labor  as  if  they  expected  every 
thing  from  themselves.  In  the  world  we  are  surprised  to 
see  men,  who  long  since  have  made  their  fortune,  rising 
early  and  retiring  late,  and  eating  the  bread  of  carefulness, 
as  if  they  had  yet  their  fortune  to  make.  Well,  then,  those 
of  whom  we  are  speaking,  have  also  made  their  fortune, 
—  they  are  saved, —  they  say  so ;  but  every  thing  which  a 
man  would  do,  who  thus  far  had  not  the  least  assurance 
of  his  salvation,  they  do  assiduously,  and  without  ceasing. 
And  they  not  only  labor,  but  they  pray ;  they  supplicate 
the  Spirit  to  sustain  them  in  their  feebleness ;  with  fervor, 
they  exclaim,  "  Oh,  who  shall  deliver  us  from  this  body 
of  death?"  With  the  great  apostle  they  repeat,  "  As  for 
me,  I  have  not  yet  reached  the  goal ;  but  this  I  do,  leaving 
the  things  that  are  behind  me,  and  marching  to  those  that 
are  before,  I  advance  to  the  goal,  to  the  prize  of  the  heav- 
enly calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  In  a  word,  the 
conduct  of  these  disciples  of  Christ  is  such,  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  among  the  partizans  of  the  law  a  single 
individual  as  careful  to  bridle  his  tongue,  to  repress  the 
risings  of  passion,  to  observe  every  iota  of  the  law,  and  to 
fill  up  his  life  with  good  works.  And  yet  they  attach  to 
none  of  their  works  the  hope  of  their  salvation.  What 
proof  can  be  stronger,  that  grace  and  law  are  by  no  means 
contradictory ! 


GRACE    AND   LAW.  151 

If  it  is  true,  that  those  who  admit  grace,  admit  also  the 
law,  it  is,  unhappily,  no  less  true,  that  those  who  do  not 
admit  grace,  do  not  admit  the  law.  This  assertion  will 
not  surprise  us,  if  we  recollect  what  the  law  is,  and  what 
it  is  to  admit  it.  Who,  in  the  elevated  and  spiritual  sense 
we  have  given  to  these  expressions,  admit  the  law,  who 
wish  to  do  so,  completely  ?  Not  those  certainly  who  reject 
grace.  Every  where  among  the  children  of  the  world,  the 
law  of  God  is  taken  at  a  discount.  Each  accepts  of  it 
whatever  he  finds  proportioned  to  his  powers,  and  conve- 
nient to  his  circumstances ;  each  makes  a  law  according  to 
his  own  standard.  Morality  changes  its  form  and  dimen- 
sions with  each  individual.  And,  what  is  especially  wor- 
thy of  notice,  in  this  connection,  is  that  they  make  only 
those  sacrifices  to  the  law  which  cost  them  nothing,  those 
indeed  which  are  no  sacrifices  at  all.  But  each  appears  to 
demand  favor  for  every  cherished  inclination,  for  every 
reserved  vice,  for  every  idol  he  has  not  the  courage  to 
break;  the  avaricious  man,  for  the  mania  of  gain  and 
accumulation,  the  sensual  for  the  indulgences  he  cannot 
renounce,  the  vain  for  the  distinctions  by  which  he  is  nat- 
tered. In  a  word,  behind  conscience,  and  amid  the  deep 
shadows  of  the  soul,  each  cherishes,  perhaps  unknown  to 
himself,  some  idolatrous  altar.  It  is  this  which  explains 
the  strange  preference,  which  worldlings  give  to  the  law 
over  grace.  Never  would  they  prefer  the  law,  if  they  saw 
it  entire  ;  and  they  prefer  it  only  because  the  delicate  point, 
the  wounding  point,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  remains 
hidden  from  them,  and  only  its  flattering  aspects,  its  smooth 
sides,  its  easy  duties,  are  familiar  to  their  minds.  But 
with  whom  do  you  find  this  disposition  to  attenuate  the 
law,  or  rather  this  incapacity  to  admit  it  ?  With  the  par- 
tizans  of  grace,  or  with  those  who  reject  grace  ?  With  the 
disciples  of  the  world,  or  with  the  children  of  the  gospel  ? 


152  GRACE    AND   LAW. 

But  are  there  not,  you  will  say  to  me,  even  among  those 
who  do  not  admit  salvation  by  grace,  men  penetrated 
with  the  holiness  of  the  law,  and  desirous  of  fulfilling  it  ? 
Ah !  my  friends,  you  speak  of  a  class  of  men  very  remark- 
able, and  very  interesting.  There  are  men,  I  am  far  from 
denying,  to  whom  God  appears  to  manifest  himself  as  he 
did  to  Moses  on  Sinai,  with  all  the  majesty  of  a  lawgiver 
and  a  judge.  By  a  celestial  favor,  which  may  be  called  a 
commencement  of  grace,  they  have  felt  the  grandeur, 
necessity,  and  inflexibility  of  the  moral  law,  and  at  the 
same  time,  have  believed  themselves  capable  of  realizing  it 
in  their  lives.  Full  of  this  idea,  they  have  set  themselves 
to  work ;  now  retrenching,  now  adding,  and  now  cor- 
recting ;  —  ever  occupied  with  the  desire  of  perfection,  they 
have  subjected  their  souls  and  bodies  to  the  severest  disci- 
pline. But  when  they  have  seen  that  the  task  had  no  end, 
the  process  no  result ;  when  one  vice  extirpated  has  only 
enabled  them  to  discover  another ;  when,  after  all  these 
corrections  in  detail,  the  sum  of  the  life  and  the  foundation 
of  the  soul  were  not  essentially  changed ;  that  the  old  man 
was  still  there,  in  his  ill-disguised  decrepitude,  that  the 
disease  of  which  they  had  to  relieve  themselves,  was  not  a 
disease,  but  death  itself;  that  the  great  thing  at  issue,  was 
not  how  to  be  cured,  but  how  to  live ;  when,  in  a  word, 
they  have  seen  that  their  labor  did  not  bring  peace,  and  at 
the  same  time,  have  felt  their  craving  for  peace  increasing 
with  the  efforts  they  made  to  satisfy  it, — then  was  verified 
in  them  what  Jesus  Christ  has  said,  "  Whosoever  will  do 
the  will  of  my  Father,  shall  know  whether  my  doctrine 
comes  from  God,  or  from  man."  Yes,  that  doctrine  which 
is  nothing  else  than  grace,  they  have  acknowledged  as  one 
which  proceeds  from  the  good  and  holy  God ;  as  the  only 
key  to  the  enigma  which  torments  them.  They  have  em- 
braced it  with  affection;  they  have  sold  all  to  purchase 


GRACE    AND   LAW.  153 

"  that  pearl  of  great  price ;"  and  have  thereby  once  more 
proved  what  we  seek  to  establish,  that  "  the  law  is  a  school- 
master, leading  to  Christ;"  and  that  by  the  road  of  the 
law,  we  arrive  at  grace.  A  great  number  of  conversions 
which  rejoice  the  church  have  no  other  history. 

Thus,  if  there  are  among  us  those  who  have  not  yet 
resolved  to  accept  salvation  from  God,  as  a  gratuitous  gift, 
as  the  price  of  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  will  state 
the  reason  of  it,  without  circumlocution.  It  is  because, 
they  do  not  yet  know  the  law.  They  may  speak,  if  they 
will,  of  righteousness,  of  perfection,  and  even  of  love ;  there 
are  many  things  of  a  terrestrial  nature  to  which  they 
might  apply  each  of  these  words  ;  it  is  long  since  human 
language  has  rashly  usurped  the  words  of  the  language 
of  Heaven.  But  how  far  is  that  which  they  call  right- 
eousness, perfection,  and  love,  from  what  our  Lord  has 
denominated  such  !  Ah  !  if  they  had  but  the  faintest  idea, 
and  the  feeblest  desire  of  perfection  ;  if  the  august  image  of 
regeneration,  of  the  life  in  God,  did  but  once  shine  upon 
their  minds,  what  a  revolution  would  be  made  in  their 
ideas  !  how  life  would  change  its  aspect  in  their  eyes  ! 
how  their  views  of  happiness  and  of  misery  would  be  sud- 
denly displaced !  How  little  would  every  thing  be  to  them, 
in  comparison  with  that  peace  of  God,  to  which  they  did 
not  expect  to  come,  but  by  way  of  the  law  !  When,  after 
having  panted,  for  a  long  time,  under  the  iron  yoke  of  the 
law,  and  traced,  in  the  field  of  duty,  so  many  barren  fur- 
rows, they  should  see  shining  upon  them,  at  last,  the  divine 
promise,  when  the  Desire  of  nations,  the  Desire  of  their 
hearts,  should  present  himself  before  their  eyes,  with  the 
touching  dignity  of  Mediator;  when  he  should  teach  them 
to  breathe  the  gentle  name  of  Father,  which  their  lips 
could  never  before  utter ;  when  they  should  see  the  links  of 
an  ineffable  communion,  formed  between  their  unhappy 
13* 


154  .  GRACE   AND   LAW. 

souls,  and  the  eternal  Spirit,  O  then  would  they  love, 
would  they  comprehend,  would  they  accept  that  grace 
which  to-day  is  to  them  only  an  object  of  scandal  and 
derision.  Open  their  eyes,  O  Lord,  to  the  majestic  splen- 
dors of  thy  holy  law,  to  the  sweet  and  tender  light  of  thy 
compassion!  Penetrate  them  with  a  reverence  for  thy 
commands,  and  then  with  love  for  thy  love.  Lead  them 
by  the  road  of  the  law,  to  the  secure  port,  the  eternal 
asylum  of  thy  grace  in  Jesus  Christ ! 


NOTE. — We  would  here  say,  what  perhaps  we  ought  to  have  said  be- 
fore, that  in  translating  passages  of  Scripture,  we  have  usually  given  the 
author's  renderings,  except  in  most  of  the  texts  at  the  head  of  the  dis- 
courses. 


X. 

MAN  DEPRIVED  OF  ALL  GLORY  BEFORE  GOD. 

"All  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God." — BOM.  3  :  23. 

FIRST  DISCOURSE. 

THE  two  truths,  to  which  we  invite  your  attention  to- 
day, have  not  met  the  same  fate  in  the  world.  The  first  is 
not  disputed ;  there  is  no  one  who  does  not  acknowledge 
that  "all  men  have  sinned;"  but  there  are  few  persons 
disposed  to  admit  that  "  man  is  deprived  of  all  glory  before 
God." 

There  is  such  an  agreement  as  to  the  first  of  these  pro- 
positions, that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  dwell  upon  it,  if 
those  who  are  unanimous  in  receiving  it,  did  not  strangely 
differ  from  one  another,  and  sometimes  even  from  them- 
selves, touching  the  extent  and  meaning  of  this  declaration. 
Some  of  them  regard  sin  as  essentially  a  negative  thing ; 
that  is,  as  an  absence,  a  want,  a  defect ;  in  their  belief,  no 
element  of  positive  evil  resides  in  the  heart  of  man.  Oth- 
ers, on  the  contrary,  believe  that  sin  consists  in  a  direct 
preference  of  evil  to  good ;  that  vice  in  man  is  not  a  weak- 
ness, but  a  depraved  force  ;  that  the  will  is  not  seduced  but 


156  MAN    DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

corrupted.  You  hear  some  explain  sin  as  an  accident  o 
human  nature  ;  the  result  of  the  action  of  external  circum- 
stances upon  the  soul.  Evil,  according  to  them,  does  not 
proceed  from  the  soul,  but  comes  to  it ;  the  soul  receivesit, 
does  not  produce  it.  Again,  you  hear  others  maintain  that 
the  germ  of  sin  is  in  the  heart ;  that  it  seeks  occasions  to 
manifest  itself;  that  every  thing  may  become  an  occasion 
to  it,  and  that  man  is  not  a  sinner  by  accident,  but  by 
nature.  The  one,  while  recognizing,  in  the  heart  of  man, 
a  tendency  to  evil,  regards  that  tendency  as  a  primitive  law 
of  his  being,  an  interior  force,  rivalling  the  moral  element 
which  gives  it  an  opportunity  of  displaying  its  force,  and 
triumphing,  with  so  much  greater  merit  and  honor.  The 
others  maintain  that  God  has  not  made  evil ;  that  an  adver- 
sary has  come  and  sown  impure  tares  among  our  wheat ; 
and  that  harmony,  not  combat,  is  the  regular  and  healthy 
state  of  every  soul. 

Reason  sheds  very  little  light  upon  all  these  questions. 
How  many  philosophers  and  profound  thinkers  have  they 
not  already  completely  defeated !  Nevertheless,  from  all 
the  intricacies  of  logic,  and  from  the  hands  of  all  the 
sophists,  one  truth  has  always  escaped,  intact,  entire  and 
invincible ;  it  is,  that  men  have  sinned ;  that  all,  more  or 
less,  live  in  disorder ;  that,  as  long  as  they  are  in  the  flesh, 
they  are  enveloped  in  sin;  and  that,  by  an  inexplicable 
contrast,  they  join,  with  the  consciousness  of  their  servitude 
or  captivity,  an  irresistible  feeling  of  guilt  and  respon- 
sibility. 

As  to  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  the  nature,  the  extent 
and  the  consequences  of  sin,  we  shall  never  obtain  it,  unless 
we  have  recourse  to  the  Christian  revelation.  This  reve- 
lation does  not  confine  itself  to  saying  that  all  men  have 
sinned ;  it  throws  a  vivid  light  upon  this  declaration  by  the 
words  which  terminate  my  text :  "  They  are  deprived  of  all 
glory  before  God."  To  every  one  that  adopts  this  second 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  157 

sentence,  the  meaning  of  the  first  becomes  perfectly  clear 
and  precise.  It  is  then  to  prove  that  man  has  no  subject 
of  glory  before  God  that  we  are  to  apply  it. 

We  have  already  said,  that  this  declaration  meets  with 
more  who  deny  it  than  the  first.  What  does  it,  in  fact, 
mean  ?  It  means  that  man  has  nothing  in  him  which  he 
can  urge  as  a  distinction  in  the  eyes  of  God,  as  a  merit  or 
a  defence ;  nothing  which  can,  in  itself,  assure  us  of  his 
good-will.  Is  not  this  truth  disputed  ? 

We  by  no  means  dispute  it,  some  will  say ;  for  it  is  quite 
evident  that  all  we  are  we  owe  to  God ;  our  good  qualities 
are  his  work;  and,  in  this  view,  the  most  virtuous  man  is 
included  with  all  others  in  the  application  of  this  sentence : 
"  They  are  deprived  of  all  occasion  of  glory  before  God." 

We  admit  it  willingly,  and  the  apostle  himself  would 
equally  admit  it.  It  was  St.  James  who  said  to  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  "  Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift 
cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights  ;"  he  alone  produces 
in  us  both  the  execution  and  the  will,  according  to  his  good 
pleasure.  "  What  have  we  that  we  have  not  received  from 
him  ;  and  if  we  have  received  it,  why  do  we  boast  as  if  we 
had  not  received  it  ?"  But  it  is  clear  that  it  is  from  another 
point  of  view  that  the  apostle  reasons  in  the  chapter  where 
our  text  is  found,  and  that  it  has  another  meaning  than  the 
one  which  these  persons  would  give  it. 

It  is  not  merely  a  homage  which  the  apostle  would  render 
to  the  author  of  every  perfect  gift ;  it  is  a  condemnation  he 
would  pronounce.  Upon  whom?  Upon  man  in  every 
condition?  No,  but  upon  man  unregenerate,  upon  man  in 
his  natural  state.  And  the  expression  of  the  apostle  evi- 
dently signifies  that  as  long  as  man  has  not  accepted  the 
benefit  of  the  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ,  he  is,  with  rela- 
tion to  God,  in  a  state  of  reprobation,  from  which  he  has  in 
himself  absolutely  nothing  that  can  .deliver  him.  This 


158  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

proposition,  I  believe,  will  a  find  a  considerable  number  of 
opponents. 

We  do  not  wish  to  burden  this  sentence  with  what  evi- 
dently does  not  belong  to  it.  We  do  not  wish  to  confound 
two  distinct  spheres.  In  the  presence  of  his  fellow-man, 
man  is  not  absolutely  without  glory.  Man  can  offer  to  man 
something  to  be  admired  and  praised,  or  at  least  to  be 
respected.  Indeed,  it  would  be  to  belie  our  own  conscious- 
ness, and  place  ourselves  in  an  untenable  position,  in  all 
cases  to  refuse  a  sentiment  of  approbation  to  the  conduct  of 
our  fellow-creatures.  In  other  words,  man  is  frequently 
forced  to  recognize  in  man  something  which  he  is  obliged 
to  call  virtue. 

Virtue  he  discovers  and  recognizes  not  merely  in  the 
Christian,  whose  moral  nature  has  been  renewed  by  the 
gospel,  but  in  others.  Far  from  all  admiration  being  con- 
fined to  that  quarter,  the  admiration  of  men,  nay  more,  of 
Christians,  is  frequently  directed  towards  the  natural  or 
unregenerate  man.  Whatever  may  be  the  harsh  assertions 
of  an  ill  understood  orthodoxy,  it  is  certain  that  the  Chris- 
tian who  is  the  most  disposed,  in  theory,  to  refuse  all  reality 
and  all  value  to  human  virtues,  every  moment  contradicts 
himself  in  practice.  A  benefit  received  from  one  of  his 
fellow-men  moves  his  heart ;  he  speaks  of  gratitude,  he  is, 
in  reality,  grateful ;  that  is  to  say,  he  recognizes,  in  his 
benefactor,  a  benevolent  and  disinterested  intention ;  he 
attributes  to  the  action,  for  which  he  has  occasion  to  rejoice, 
another  value  than  the  personal  profit  he  derives  from  it, 
an  intrinsic,  or  a  moral  value.  His  benefactor  is  something 
else  in  his  eyes  than  a  tree,  well  planted,  which  bears  spon- 
taneously good  fruits ;  he  sees  in  him  a  generous  will, 
which,  without  being  incited  from  without,  has  used  its 
capacity  and  means  to  procure  an  advantage  to  a  sensitive 
being.  I  know,  indeed,  that  a  narrow  system  may,  at 


GLORY    BEFORE    GOD.  159 

length,  re-act  upon  the  soul,  and  reduce  it  to  its  own  stand- 
ard, but  it  cannot  tear  from  the  soul  those  instincts  so  deeply 
rooted  in  it.  And  all  that  such  a  system  can  do,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  essential  nature  of  the  soul,  is  to  reduce  it  to 
silence,  but  not  to  stifle  it. 

In  favor  of  the  reality  of  human  virtue,  in  some  degree, 
we  boldly  invoke  the  testimony  of  all  men,  if  not  their 
express  and  voluntary  testimony,  at  least  that  sudden  and 
irresistible  testimony  which  may  be  called  the  voice    of 
nature.     We  shall   obtain   from   them  a  testimony  even 
more  explicit  than  this,  if  we  can,  for  a  moment,  induce 
them  to  descend  into  the  arena  where  the  facts  wait  to  be 
combated.      Of  these  facts  we  shall,  without  hesitation, 
abandon  to  them  a  great  number.     We  shall  consent  to 
reject  as  far  from  the  sphere  of  virtuous  actions  all  those 
which  may  be  explained  by  custom  or  prejudice;  all  those 
in  reference  to  which,  interest,  gross  or  delicate,  may  have 
played  a  part ;  all  those  whicR  the  applause  of  men  might 
or  could  follow.     They  may  do  with  such  actions  what 
they  please;  we  defend  them  not;  our  cause  can  dispense 
with  them.     But  as  to  those  in  which  virtue  can  be  ex- 
plained only  by  virtue, — those  which  have  been  performed 
far  from  the  eyes  of  man,  and  without  any  reasonable  hope 
of  ever  attracting  their  attention, — those  which,  so  far  from 
having  been  able  to  count  upon  their  suffrage,  had,  in 
prospect,  only  their  contempt, — those  in  which  opprobrium 
could   not  be   converted   into   glory   by   the   enthusiastic 
adherence  of  a  certain  number  of  partizans, — those,  in  a 
word,  which  could  never  have  existed,  unless  there  had 
been  in  the  hearts  of  their  authors  an  idea  of  duty,  or  a 
sentiment  of  disinterestedness ;  all  such  they  must  leave 
us;  and  however  small  may  be  their  number,  and  however 
widely  separated  by  great  distances  on  the  earth,  and  by 
centuries  of  time,  we  believe  that  they  sufficiently  protest 
against  a  vain  denial,  and   in  their  mournful    rareness, 


160  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

prove  the  presence  and  perpetual  action  of  a  moral  principle 
in  the  bosom  of  the  human  race. 

We  have,  in  this  cause,  the  gospel  itself  in  our  favor. 
We  see  there  the  same  writers  who  have  taught  us  the 
entire  fall  and  condemnation  of  man,  unhesitatingly  accord- 
ing to  human  virtues  those  praises  which  could  not  be 
accorded  to  them  in  a  system  which  denies  all  moral  value 
in  the  actions  of  men.  It  is  true  they  acknowledged 
that,  in  an  elevated  sense,  there  is  none  righteous,  no,  not 
one;  that  none  doeth  good,  no,  not  one;  that  all  flesh  has 
corrupted  its  way ;  but,  after  all,  the  same  writers  praise  a 
barbarous  people  who  received  them,  after  their  shipwreck, 
with  much  humanity  (Acts  28:  2);  they  return  thanks  for 
the  affectionate  care  of  a  man,  who,  without  knowing 
them,  and  without  expecting  any  thing  from  them,  did 
them  all  the  good  their  situation  required  (Acts  28:  7). 
And  St.  Paul,  the  very  one  who  takes  away  from  man  all 
occasion  of  glory  before  God,  acknowledges  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Komans,  that  the  Gentiles  do  naturally,  at  least  in  a 
certain  measure,  the  things  which  are  according  to  law, 
and  by  this  means  he  shows,  that  what  is  written  in  the 
law  is  also  written  in  their  hearts.  After  these  testimonies 
a  Christian  can  have  no  difficulty  in  admitting  a  principle 
of  action  in  man,  different  from  that  of  self-interest ;  and 
this  principle  being  once  recognized  and  defined,  it  is  of 
little  consequence  by  what  name  it  is  called. 

Singular  thing!  it  is  among  the  followers  of  Christiani- 
ty, and  among  them  only,  that  our  position  ought  to  find 
opponents.  And  we  see  rising  against  it,  in  the  ranks  of 
those  who  oppose  Christianity,  as  great  a  number  of  adver- 
saries. It  is,  sometimes,  against  the  natural  man  that  we 
have  to  defend  the  reality  of  natural  virtues.  It  is  before 
man  himself  that  man  can  scarcely  find  favor.  It  is  man 
that  refuses  to  man  the  occasion  of  glory  which  we  have 
not  hesitated  to  accord  to  him.  The  very  same  persons 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  161 

who  tax  Christianity  with  misanthropy  and  exaggeration, 
when  it  proclaims  the  nothingness  of  human  virtues,  are 
often,  in  the  practice  of  life,  the  most  skeptical  of  all  virtue. 
They  demolish,  stone  by  stone,  the  edifice  which  they  are 
eager  and  in  haste  to  re-construct,  when  the  question  is 
agitated  about  finding  a  retreat  against  the  overpowering 
assertions  of  the  gospel.  Ready  to  defend  against  it,  in 
general,  the  goodness,  and  even  perfection  of  our  nature, 
they  contradict  themselves,  in  detail,  in  a  manner  the  most 
striking.  To  them  all  men  are  good,  but  each  man  is  bad. 
Their  distrust  and  caprice  give  credit  to  no  action  and  to 
no  man.  Nothing  beautiful  or  good  escapes  the  corrosion 
of  their  crue-l  interpretations.  They  have  in  reserve  for 
each  good  action  a  bitter  and  degrading  explanation.  When 
a  beautiful  fruit  falls  into  their  hands,  their  first  idea  is  not 
to  nourish  themselves  by  it,  but  to  find  there  the  hidden 
worm  which  gnaws  its  interior.  Thus  their  habitual  prac- 
tice belies  their  theory.  But  what  shall  be  said  of  those 
who  admit  into  their  minds  two  contradictory  theories;  of 
those  who,  reproaching  Christianity  with  the  harshness 
of  its  doctrines,  have  adopted,  according  to  their  own 
estimate,  opinions  as  harsh,  and  perhaps  more  so ;  of  those 
who,  analyzing  the  human  heart,  flatter  themselves  that 
they  have  discovered  (happy  discovery !)  that  all  its  fibres 
vibrate  to  that  of  selfishness ;  who  ask  man  to  sign  with 
them  the  sentence  of  his  own  dishonor,  and  yet  demand  a 
glory  in  compensation  for  that  which  they  have  taken 
away  from  us  ?  There  are  times  when  this  bitter  contempt 
of  human  nature,  this  denial  of  all  moral  worth  in  manr 
becomes  a  general  belief,  and  almost  a  popular  instinct. 
This  is  seen  especially  at  the  termination  of  great  and 
cruel  deceptions  on  society,  when  having,  through  faith  in 
its  leaders,  given  its  adherence  to  seducing  theories,  con- 
firmed by  imposing  words,  it  discovers  that  it  has  beea 
deceived,  and  in  the  disgust  which  follows  its  previous 
14 


162  MAN    DEPRIVED   OF    ALL 

intoxication,  includes  in  an  equal  contempt,  all  professions 
of  faith,  all  protestations  of  benevolence,  of  justice  and 
devotion.  The  profanation  of  words  leads  to  the  contempt 
of  things.  In  morality,  as  well  as  in  religion,  unbelief 
is  the  necessary  re-action  of  hypocrisy.  In  the  train  of 
religious  contests  ordinarily  comes  religious  skepticism; 
and  wars  of  opinion,  after  an  enormous  expenditure  of 
maxims,  declamations  and  protestations,  end  by  giving 
birth  to  moral  skepticism. 

This  kind  of  disgust  which  usually  follows  in  the  train 
of  great  social  commotions,  we  produce  at  pleasure  in 
ourselves,  during  quiet  and  ordinary  times,  by  the  general 
contemplation  of  society  and  the  study  of  history.  Those 
whom  their  individual  relations  might  have  led  to  accord 
some  respect  to  humanity,  in  passing  from  individuals  to 
the  race,  insensibly  change  their  views.  It  is  rare  that  in 
this  aspect  of  mankind  the  conviction  of  the  degradation  of 
human  nature  does  not  fasten  itself  strongly  upon  their 
soul.  A  conviction  so  much  more  painful,  when  identifying 
itself,  so  to  speak,  with  the  consciousness  of  the  whole 
human  race,  they  feel  on  its  behalf  an  immense  remorse. 
The  guilt  of  the  whole  human  family  is  heaped  upon  their 
conscience,  as  that  of  an  accomplice.  Their  pride  yields 
in  spite  of  them  to  this  humiliating  fellowship ;  because  in 
view  of  so  many  transgressions,  revealing,  in  their  own 
heart,  the  hidden  germ,  from  which  unhappy  circumstances 
might  cause  the  same  iniquities  to  spring  forth,  they  feel 
themselves  condemned  by  the  crimes  of  society,  degraded 
by  its  degradation,  humbled  by  its  shame.* 

*  If  humanity  is  corrupted  in  the  mass,  it  would  certainly  be  very  diffi- 
cult to  prove  that  it  is  pure  in  the  details.  If  the  race  has  fallen,  surely 
individuals  cannot  be  innocent.  That  there  are  among  them  diversities 
of  character,  some  being  better  and  some  worse,  at  least  with  reference  to 
certain  aspects  of  character,  none  will  deny;  but  that  the  taint  of  sin  has, 
more  or  less,  reached  the  heart  of  every  man,  all  experience  and  observa- 
tion go  to  prove.  Even  if  an  individual  were  conscious  of  some  purity, 


GLORY  BEFORE  GOD.  163 

This  is  not  all.  How,  say  they,  confusedly,  can  gener- 
ous juices  circulate  in  a  tree  with  that  poisonous  sap  ?  And 
when,  not  only  in  the  same  nation,  but  also  in  the  same 
individual,  we  see  developed  together  the  most  ordinary 
vices  by  the  side  of  the  loftiest  virtues,  the  most  unnatural 
sentiments  by  the  side  of  the  noblest  emotions,  are  we  not 
led  irresistibly  to  doubt  the  reality  of  good  in  the  midst  of 
so  much  evil ;  and,  at  the  sight  of  these  golden  particles 
scattered  in  the  mud,  to  suppose  that  this  noble  metal  is  not 
actually  there,  but  that  a  singular  play  of  light  from  above 
has,  at  times,  given  to  some  portions  of  the  mud  the  appear- 
ance and  glitter  of  gold  ?  Let  us  examine,  let  us  analyze, 
and  we  shall  be  surprised  to  see  how  many  virtues  are 
entirely  false,  how  many  actions,  good  in  themselves,  are 
dishonored  by  an  unholy  motive,  how  many  others  by  an 
admixture  of  impurity.  Let  us  demand  from  ourselves  an 
account  of  our  admiration  ;  by  tarnishing  the  principle,  we 
tarnish  the  object.  Let  us  inquire  if  the  enthusiasm  we 
have  felt  in  view  of  great  historical  virtues  was  entirely 
pure,  and  if  it  had  not  for  its  principle,  less  the  love  of 

ought  not  the  very  fact  that  he  belongs  to  a  degenerate  race,  to  excite  in 
him  some  suspicion  as  to  his  own  integrity  ?  Can  he  condemn  the  whole 
of  his  kind  and  acquit  himself?  Can  he  look  upon  the  wreck  of  humanity 
and  feel  that  he  alone  has  escaped  ?  Can  he  complacently  say,  Man  is 
sinful,  but  I  am  holy  5  man  is  fallen,  but  I  am  safe  ?  Impossible?  For 
each  man  is  a  part  of  humanity,  and  must  yield,  in  spite  of  himself,  to  that 
"  humiliating  fellowship."  If  he  does  not,  if  he  separates  himself  from  his 
fellow-sinners,  and  says,  "  Stand  by,  for  I  am  holier  than  thou,"  what 
estimate  is  formed  of  him  by  others,  and  even  by  those  who  are  the  great- 
est sticklers  for  the  natural  innocence  of  man  ?  Do  they  not  denounce 
him  as  a  pharisee  or  a  hypocrite  ?  And  do  they  not  thus  recognize  the 
truth  of  what  the  Scriptures  have  said,  that  "  there  is  no  difference,  for  all 
have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God?  "  We  cheerfully  admit 
that  man,  though  fallen,  has  a  noble  nature.  It  is  a  palace  deserted. 
Enough  of  its  primitive  grandeur  remains  to  prove  that  God  once  dwelt 
there.  Its  silence  and  desolation  are  mournful,  but  they  are  the  silence 
and  desolation  of  a  majestic  ruin,  beautiful  even  in  decay.  Besides,  the 
materials  are  entire,  and  may  yet  be  re-constructed  on  a  new  foundation, 
and  once  more  attract  the  presence  of  the  King  of  kings.  T. 


164  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF    ALL 

virtue  than  the  love  of  glory.  Let  us  inquire  if  virtue, 
stripped  of  every  poetical  circumstance,  reduced  to  the 
persevering  but  uniform,  the  zealous  but  concealed  observ- 
ance of  duties  which  spring  from  a  vulgar  position,  if  virtue 
trnder  such  a  form,  and  the  less  suspected  on  that  very 
account,  does  not  inspire  us  with  an  interest  comparatively 
feeble ;  and  if  this  be  not  a  sentiment  quite  as  moral  as  that 
which  transported  us  from  that  dull  and  gloomy  horizon  to 
a  dazzling  one,  where  great  achievements  and  mighty  intel- 
lectual powers  enhanced  in  our  eyes  the  qualities  of  great 
hearts.  If  our  admiration  thus  permits  itself  to  be  cor- 
rupted, will  virtue  itself  be  incorruptible  ?  If  glory  has 
deceived  our  enthusiasm,  has  it  exerted  less  influence  on 
the  great  actions  which  awakened  it  in  us  ?  And  must  we 
not  place  to  its  account  a  part,  alas  !  a  very  great  part  of 
the  virtues  we  admire  ? 

You  see,  thus,  that  if  the  opposition  of  one  class  of  relig- 
ious men  gives  a  defender  of  human  virtues  something  to 
do,  the  opposition  of  another  class  of  opponents  subjects  him 
to  no  less  embarrassment.  For  we  confess,  that  after  the 
knowledge  of  human  nature  we  believe  ourselves  to  have 
acquired,  we  should,  to-day,  find  a  difficulty,  if  we  wished 
to  do  any  thing  more  than  save  a  few  remains  from  the 
wreck.  For  we  believe  in  the  wreck  of  humanity ;  we 
believe  that  its  unfortunate  ship  has  perished  ;  the  remains 
of  that  great  catastrophe  float  on  the  waves.  A  few  of  these 
are  yet  fit  for  some  use,  but  none  of  them  can  bear  to  the 
shore  the  least  of  the  passengers.  Convinced  fully  that 
man  is  fallen,  we  cannot,  however,  admit  that  he  has 
become  an  entire  stranger  to  every  moral  sentiment ;  we 
think  we  can  see,  through  his  corruption,  traces, — some- 
times brilliant  traces, — of  justice  and  benevolence,  to  which 
we  cannot  refuse  our  admiration ;  in  a  word,  we  believe  that 
man  is  not  stripped  of  all  occasion  of  glory  before  man. 

Let  man  be  satisfied  with  us  ;  we  have  done  him  justice. 
Let  him  surround  himself  with  these  splendid  rags ;  let 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  165 

him  admire  them  ;  let  him  try  to  clothe  and  adorn  his 
nakedness  with  them ;  we  agree  to  it ;  we  go  further ; — 
we  respect  those  rags,  and  we  know  why.  But  whatever 
high  value  he  may  place  upon  his  proud  indigence,  what 
peace  and  hope  can  he  derive  from  that  incoherent  and 
contradictory  assemblage  of  the  most  extravagant  moral 
elements ;  that  will  which  acknowledges  the  law,  yet  tram- 
ples it  under  foot,  which  loves  duty  and  yet  hates  it ;  that 
heart  which  receives,  with  the  same  favor,  and  cherishes 
together  passions  the  most  brutal,  and  devotion  the  most 
heroic  ?  Will  he  persuade  himself  that  all  in  him  is  good ; 
or  that  the  good  can  compensate  for  the  bad  ;  or  that  this 
mixture  constitutes  order  itself,  and  that  God  wills  the  bad 
as  well  as  the  good  ?  A  craving  for  unity,  stronger  than 
all  reasonings,  appeals  to  him  against  it.  An  anguish 
stronger  than  all  the  consolations  of  a  false  wisdom,  repeats 
to  him  that  there  is  no  safety  but  in  unity.  A  confused  sen- 
timent warns  him  that  a  good  which  does  not  conquer  the 
bad  is  not  the  true  good  ;  and  that  a  virtue  which  leaves  a 
vice  to  dwell  by  its  side  is  not  true  virtue ;  that  true  virtue 
dwelling  in  the  centre  of  the  soul,  would  exclude,  by  its 
very  presence,  every  thing  which  is  not  virtue ;  that  what 
he  has  honored,  under  this  name,  is  not  then  truly  virtue, 
but  its  shadow,  or  its  remembrance  ;  while  a  voice  of  con- 
demnation resounds  hoarsely,  during  the  whole  of  his  life, 
above  the  applauses  which  by  turns  he  gives  and  receives. 
Cruel  doubts  !  Frightful  shadows  !  What  will  disperse 
you  ?  What  will  shed  upon  the  close  of  this  gloomy  career 
a  consoling  light  ?  The  light  which  will  illumine  the  past 
will  illumine  also  the  future ;  that  which  will  explain  the 
evil  will  also  indicate  the  cure  ;  it  is  under  the  ruins  of  our 
ancient  dwelling  that  we  must  seek  the  foundations  of  the 
new.  Unity,  light  and  hope  we  find  all  at  once,  in  the 
word  which  has  said  to  all  men  without  distinction,  "  Ye 
are  stripped  of  all  glory  before  God."  Let  us  together 
consider  that  great  truth. 
14* 


XI. 

MAN  DEPRIVED  OF  ALL  GLORY  BEFORE  GOD. 

"  All  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God." — ROM.  3  :  23. 

SECOND  DISCOURSE. 

IN  a  preceding  discourse,  we  have  said  that  man  has  some 
occasions  of  glory  before  man.  Poor  distinctions  which  he 
disputes  to  himself,  and  which,  after  a  more  attentive  exam- 
ination, he  very  often  tears  to  pieces  with  a  blush.  Of 
what  remains,  of  what  ought  not  to  be  refused  him,  he 
cannot  make  a  counterpoise  to  his  misery ;  his  shame,  even 
in  his  own  eyes,  will  always  be  greater  than  his  glory. 
The  general  condition  of  humanity,  even  in  eras  of  culture 
and  in  centres  of  civilization,  always  appears  to  him  one  of 
degradation  and  ruin.  This  is  a  conclusion  to  which  he  is 
almost  infallibly  conducted  by  a  profound  study  of  human 
affairs.  It  is  a  result  also  to  which  many  good  men  are 
brought  by  the  mere  examination  of  their  own  hearts,  and 
the  rigorous  analysis  of  their  actions.^  Such  is  the  con- 

*It  may  be  thought  strange  that  while  good  men  readily  confess  their 
sinfulness,  bad  men  generally  deny  it.  Skeptics,  it  is  found,  are  ordinarily 
proud  and  self-conceited.  But  some  of  them  have  been  compelled  to 


MAN    DEPRIVED   OF   ALL   GLORY.  167 

dition  of  man  ;  such  is  his  glory ;  let  him  take  possession 
of  it ;  but  let  him  not  stretch  forth  his  hand  to  a  higher 
glory,  the  glory  which  comes  from  God.  This  we  abso- 
lutely refuse  him. 

Already,  by  his  own  reflections,  whether  he  form  a 
moderate  or  an  extravagant  estimate  of  his  moral  worth, 
man  is  necessarily  driven  to  acknowledge  that  he  cannot 
pretend  to  much  glory  before  God.  That  God,  whose 
piercing  eyes  try  the  hearts  and  the  reins,  can  see  there  a 
thousand  imperfections,  which  we  do  not  see  j  and  since 
nothing  can  corrupt  his  judgment,  .nothing  can  induce  us 
to  hope  that  he  will  fall  into  the  slightest  mistake  respect- 
ing us.  Moreover,  he  is  a  God,  perfectly  holy,  "  whose 
eyes,"  saith  the  Scripture,  "  are  too  pure  to  look  upon  ini- 
quity." When  he  sees  evil  in  the  heart,  he  does  not 
receive  from  it  those  feeble  impressions  which  we  do.  He 
has  a  horror  of  every  thing  which  violates  order ;  and  this 
horror  does  not,  like  ours,  attach  itself  exclusively  to  those 
actions  which  are  more  repugnant  to  our  feelings  than 
others,  or  which  more  sensibly  disturb  social  relations. 
Far  above  such  distinctions  by  the  majesty  of  his  nature, 
his  divine  impartiality  attaches  itself  to  the  principle  of 
actions  ;  it  is  by  their  principle  he  judges  them ;  and  from 
this  point  of  view,  he  does  not  always  mark,  with  a  strong- 
er reprobation,  the  enormities  which  appal  us,  than  the 
defects  to  which  our  blame  scarcely  reaches.  His  justice, 

confess  their  conscious  weakness  and  imperfection.  Few  men  were  pro- 
bably more  calmly  and  proudly  self-complacent  than  Goethe,  who  with  a 
clear  and  majestic  intellect,  had  an  irreligious  and  sensual  heart j  a  fact  of 
which  he  was  not  altogether  unconscious.  The  following,  from  Ecker- 
man's  Conversations,  p.  309,  is  an  indirect,  but  striking  testimony  to  this 
fact.  "  It  is  from  olden  time,"  said  Goethe,  "  said  and  repeated,  that 
man  should  strive  to  know  himself.  To  this  singular  requisition  no  man 
either  has  fully  answered,  or  shall  answer.  *  *  *  Man  is  a  darkened 
being  5  he  knows  not  whence  he  comes  nor  whither  he  goes ;  he  knows 
little  of  the  world,  and  less  of  himself.  I  know  not  myself,  and  may 
God  protect  me  from  it."  T. 


168  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

all  divine,  by  disarranging  our  classifications,  raises  all 
to  the  same  level,  and  gives  the  name  of  crime  to  customs 
which  do  not  cost  us  the  slightest  scruple.  Not  only  our 
vices,  but  our  imperfections,  our  pretended  indifferent  ac- 
tions, frequently  our  very  virtues,  rush  at  his  bidding,  to 
swell  the  ranks,  where  already  crowd  so  many  obvious 
crimes.  Judged  by  this  holy  and  formidable  Judge,  even 
the  good  man  is  transformed  into  a  criminal,  and  models  of 
righteousness  appear  as  models  of  iniquity.  If  it  is  thus 
that  God  judges  us,  and  how  can  we  believe  that  he  judges 
otherwise,  there  is  doubtless  left  us  very  little  occasion 
of  glory  before  God.  But  is  it  not  possible  for  you  to 
judge  of  this  by  yourselves,  by  placing  your  minds,  as  far 
as  may  be,  in  the  point  of  view  occupied  by  your  Creator  ? 
You  can  certainly  do  this,  by  considering  the  perfect  law, 
where,  as  in  a  mirror,  the  divine  perfection  itself  is  reflect- 
ed. The  perfect  law,  or  the  law  of  perfection,  has,  in  its 
application,  no  other  limits  than  those  of  possibility.  You 
need  not  consider  it  as  a  whole  ;  take  only  one  of  its  arti- 
cles, that  which  commands  us  to  do  towards  our  neighbor, 
whatever  we  should  desire  him  to  do  towards  us.  I  am 
not  afraid  that  you  will  refuse  this  precept ;  no  one  refuses 
it.  Those  who  do  not  wish  to  hear  us  speak  of  Christian 
doctrine,  willingly  receive  Christian  morality ;  they  pride 
themselves  on  feeling  its  beauty ;  they  exalt  it  above  all 
others.  Singular  prepossession  !  For  the  morality  ought 
to  be  much  more  offensive  to  them  than  the  doctrine ;  the 
doctrine  is  consoling,  the  morality  discouraging.  But 
however  that  may  be,  judge  yourselves  by  this  one  article; 
for  if  this  article  be  true,  if  it  ought  to  be  maintained  in  all 
its  force,  if  it  does  not  behoove  you  to  mutilate  or  weaken 
it,  acknowledge  that  it  condemns  you.  To  treat  your 
neighbor  as  you  would  that  he  should  treat  you  !  Such  is 
the  precept,  —  but  pray,  when  have  you  observed  it ;  or 
rather  what  day,  what  hour  have  you  not  violated  it  ? 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  169 

This  precept,  you  know,  is  not  negative ;  it  embraces  all 
the  offices,  all  the  cares,  all  the  devotion  and  ardor  of 
charity.  It  supposes  that  he  who  would  observe  it,  shall  not 
live  for  himself;  that  the  welfare  of  his  brethren  shall  be- 
come the  principal  motive  of  his  life  ;  that  he  shall  include 
the  whole  world  in  his  embrace,  by  the  power  of  a  generous 
love.  Well,  this  positive  aspect  of  the  precept  I  will  give 
up  to  you;  and  suppose,  against  all  philosophical  truth, 
that  the  negative  part  is  independent  of  the  other,  and  that 
charity  may  be  confined  to  abstinence  and  omission.  Thus, 
if  any  one  abstain  from  doing  to  another  the  evil  which  he 
does  not  wish  to  receive  from  him,  he  is,  by  that  alone,  to 
be  regarded  as  charitable.  Well,  have  you,  even  in  this 
limited  sense,  fulfilled  the  law  ?  Do  you  fulfil  it,  when  you 
use  your  right  with  rigor,  and  when  no  obligation  com- 
pels you  to  use  it  thus  ?  Do  you  fulfil  it,  when  you  give 
your  neighbor  examples  which  it  would  be  injurious  to  you 
to  receive  ?  Do  you  fulfil  it,  when,  without  necessity,  you 
wound  his  self-love,  you  whose  self-love  is  so  sensitive  ? 
Do  you  fulfil  it,  when  you  refuse  him  those  attentions, 
which  you  are  yourself  so  eager  to  receive  ?  Do  you  fulfil 
it,  when  you  judge  his  actions  with  an  unfeeling  severity, 
which  you  would  not  pardon  in  him,  if  he  were  to  exercise 
it  towards  you  ?  Of  two  duties,  one,  at  least,  is  imposed  upon 
you;  either  you  must  abstain  from  these  things,  or  renounce 
whatever,  up  tp  this  moment,  you  have  required  from  anoth- 
er ;  you  must  either  give  what  you  have  required  from  him, 
or  not  require  from  him  what  you  are  unwilling  to  give  him. 
Have  you  fulfilled  this  law?  Have  you  not  violated  it  every 
moment?  Pass  in  review,  in  the  same  way,  all  the  other 
articles  of  the  law.  Examine  yourselves  under  the  various 
relations  it  embraces.  Hear  its  decision  ;  for  it  is  as  if  God 
himself  spoke.  Then  estimate  your  deficiencies,  and  see 
the  ground  covered  with  your  broken  merits,  your  prostrate 
virtues.  You  went  to  meet  God,  in  pompous  apparel,  and 


170  MAN    DEPRIVED    OF   ALL 

with  a  magnificent  train  ;  lo  !  you  have  arrived  in  his  pres- 
ence through  the  double  hedge  of  the  precepts  of  the  law ; 
look  now,  on  each  side  of  you,  look  behind  you !  What 
remains  to  you  of  that  proud  train  ?  Are  you  not  alone,  and 
without  support  before  God,  and  reduced  humbly  to  beg 
mercy  from  Him,  whose  justice  you  came  proudly  to  claim? 

I  have  said  mercy,  for  without  going  further,  I  can  already 
say  it.  The  law  in  fact  demanded  nothing  less  than  its 
full  observance;  your  conscience  also  demanded  as  much; 
for  at  each  duty  neglected,  at  each  transgression  committed, 
it  failed  not  in  a  single  instance,  to  utter  the  cry  of  alarm. 
Even  if  you  had  fulfilled  all  its  requirements,  you  must 
yet  have  placed  yourselves  in  the  rank  of  unprofitable  ser- 
vants. If,  then,  you  have  not  been  raised  to  the  rank  even 
of  unprofitable  servants,  what  is  your  position  ?  And,  to 
go  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter,  what  do  you  think  of  those 
frequent,  those  perpetual  transgressions  of  the  law,  except 
that  you  have  not  loved  it  ?  For,  if  perchance  you  have 
fulfilled  some  of  its  precepts,  you  did  so,  because  it  hap- 
pened to  be  agreeable  to  your  inclinations,  while  the  law 
in  itself,  the  law  as  law,  was  hateful  to  you ;  and  hence, 
if  you  have  occasionally  fallen  in  with  it,  you  have 
never  obeyed  it.  You  will,  therefore,  conclude  with  me 
that  you  are  rebels ;  that  some  acts  of  obedience,  apparent 
and  accidental,  cannot  remove  from  you  that  terrible  dis- 
tinction ;  and  that  mercy,  not  justice,  is  your  only  resource. 

At  this  point,  it  seems  to  us,  that  we  have  said  enough, 
to  reach  the  end  of  all  Christian  preaching,  that  is  to  cast 
the  sinner  trembling  at  the  foot  of  mercy.  But  we  do  not 
forget  what  is  the  precise  subject  of  this  meditation.  We 
have  shown  thus  far,  or  rather  we  have  ascertained  with 
you,  that  man  has  few  occasions  of  boasting  before  God. 
We  must  go  still  further;  we  must  prove,  according  to  the 
declaration  of  the  apostle,  that  "  all  occasion  for  boasting  is 
excluded." 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  171 

To  glorify  himself  before  God!  And  for  what?  For 
having,  whether  in  virtue  or  jn  vice,  incessantly  disobeyed 
him  ?  For  this  is  the  crime  which  equalizes,  among  all 
men,  all  moral  conditions.  Other  iniquities  are  individual; 
this  is  the  great  iniquity  of  the  human  race.  Virtuous  or 
vicious,  we  have  all  excluded  God  from  our  thoughts,  from 
our  motives  of  action,  from  our  life.  We  have  all  equally 
violated  the  first,  the  greatest  of  all  obligations.  We  are 
all,  in  the  same  degree,  transgressors  of  eternal  order. 

Let  a  man  (I  will,  for  a  moment,  suppose  what  is  impos- 
sible), let  a  man  present  himself  to  us,  who  can  say,  I  have 
observed  all  the  commandments  of  the  law  from  my  youth, 
only  I  have  cared  nothing  for  God.  I  have  fulfilled  my 
duties,  only  I  have  neglected  the  one  which  is  most  essen- 
tial. I  have  been  virtuous  in  every  point,  only  I  have 
committed  the  greatest  of  crimes.  With  how  much  pro- 
priety shall  we  say  to  him,  you  have  not  been  virtuous  at 
all;  that  is  impossible.  From  the  same  source  cannot 
spring  sweet  water  and  bitter.  The  same  soul  cannot 
contain  elements  so  contradictory.  The  mind  refuses  to 
conceive  an  alliance  so  monstrous.  And  if  you  persist  in 
calling  virtue,  acts  which  we  admit  enjoy  the  esteem  of 
men,  you  compel  us  to  affirm  that  such  acts  cannot  consti- 
tute true  virtue.  Detached  from  the  true  principle  of  all 
good,  they  wither,  as  necessarily  as  a  flower  separated 
from  its  roots,  and  "the  jealous  God"  can  never  honor  a 
proud  virtue  which  has  never  honored  him. 

And  let  no  one  say  that  this  is  a  dispute  about  words ; 
that  obedience  only  is  essential;  and  that  he  who  obeys 
the  law  and  his  conscience  obeys  God.  If  the  one  is 
identical  with  the  other,  if  the  one  costs  no  more  effort 
than  the  other,  whence  comes  that  universal  repugnance  to 
pass  from  the  one  to  the  other,  from  the  law  to  the  law- 
giver, from  conscience  to  God?  Whence  comes  that 
inconceivable  preference  of  the  thing  to  the  person,  of  the 


172  MAN    DEPRIVED    OF    ALL 

idea  to  its  source,  of  the  abstraction  to  the  living  being? 
Why  will  not  man  obey  the  voice  of  God,  except  indirect- 
ly ?  Why  obstinately  refuse  an  immediate  contact  with 
his  heavenly  Father?  If  he  respects  the  law  as  coming 
from  God,  if  he  honors  conscience  as  the  voice  of  God, 
whence  comes  it  that  God  himself  is  not  the  direct  end 
and  object  of  his  homage?  The  truth  is,  it  is  not  God  he 
honors  in  the  law  and  in  conscience,  but  himself.  He 
appropriates  these  two  elements,  and  these  two  authorities 
to  his  own  use,  transforms  them  into  his  own  being,  and 
by  adoring  them  as  a  part  of  himself,  in  reality  adores 
himself. 

What  imports  it,  you  say,  that  I  neglect  the  lawgiver, 
provided  I  observe  the  law  ?  This  idea  would  be  admissi- 
ble, to  some  extent,  in  our  relations  with  the  lawgivers  of 
this  world.  They  are  but  men,  your  equals,  mere  repre- 
sentatives of  the  society  of  which  you  form  a  part,  simple 
organs  of  the  ideas  of  justice  and  order,  which  a  higher 
power  has  deposited  in  society.  They  possess  no  dignity, 
the  source  of  which  is  in  themselves.  It  is  not  thus- with 
God;  he  represents  no  one.  He  is  not  the  organ  of  law; 
he  is  the  living  law.  The  law  itself  is  not  law  except  as 
it  comes  from  him.  He  is  himself  the  supreme  and  final 
reason  of  all  that  he  does,  the  supreme  and  final  reason  of 
all  ideas.  While  it  is  the  law  which  we  honor  in  the 
person  of  the  legislator,  here  it  is  the  legislator  that  we 
must  honor  in  the  law.  To  observe  'the  law  without 
respect  to  the  lawgiver,  is  actually  to  violate  the  law;  for 
our  first  duty  relates  to  the  lawgiver.  To  respect  the 
ideas,  and  neglect  him  who  is-  their  author  and  source, 
who  is  the  cause  of  their  truth,  and  of  whom  those 
ideas  are  only  the  shadow  or  the  reflection,  is  the  most 
appalling  of  contradictions.  To  admit  conscience  and 
duty,  justice  and  injustice,  as  realities,  and  to  make  an 
abstraction  of  the  BEING  who  alone  is  the  sanction  of  these 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  173 

ideas,  who  alone  gives  them  a  basis,  who  alone  binds  the 
chain  of  them  to  a  fixed  point,  who  alone,  we  may  say, 
explains  their  presence  in  the  human  mind,  and  renders 
them  conceivable,  is  a  profound  absurdity.  Finally,  let 
us  try  to  extend  and  elevate  our  conception  a  little.  Let 
us  transport  it,  as  much  as  our  feebleness  will  admit,  to 
the  idea  of  the  God  of  Moses:  of  him  who  named  himself 
I  AM  THAT  I  AM;  of  the  necessary  Being,  the  universal 
Being,  say  rather,  THE  BEING  ;  of  that  God  who  is  not  an 
idea,  a  form,  an  abstraction,  but  BEING  ;  of  that  living, 
infinite  personality,  who  is  essentially  one ;  of  that  eternal 
ME,  of  whom  the  me  of  each  of  us  is  only  a  mysterious 
emanation ;  of  that  Being  who  is  the  source  of  all  things, 
and  constitutes  our  power,  our  breath,  our  life,  nay,  all  in 
us  which  is  positive  and  true.* 

*This  is  a  sublime  definition  of  God,  but  to  say  that  the  me.  of  each  of 
us,  in  other  words,  that  which  constitutes  our  personality,  is  an  emanation 
of  God,  is  liable  to  be  misunderstood.  If  by  this  expression  it  is  meant 
that  the  soul  of  man  was  created  by  God,  without  any  reference  to  the 
mode  of  that  creation,  then  it  is  true.  But  if  it  is  meant  to  convey  the 
idea  that  the  soul  is  a  part  of  God,  a  portion  of  his  essence  or  substance, 
which  has  proceeded,  or  flowed  out,  so  to  speak,  from  his  infinite  pleroma, 
or  fullness,  then  we  deny  it,  as  unphilosophical  and  unscriptural.  God  is  a 
unity,  an  infinite,  undivided  and  unchangeable  essence.  He  cannot  be 
increased  or  diminished.  Nothing  can  be  given  to  him,  or  taken  from 
him.  He  cannot,  therefore,  give  off  portions  of  himself  j  nor  can  these 
flow  from  him  of  their  own  accord,  as  rays  from  the  sun,  or  streams  from 
the  fountain.  That  he  has  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge, 
that  he  can  perform  all  possible  things,  and  bestow  all  possible  blessings, 
is  cheerfully  granted.  But  he  cannot  (with  reverence  be  it  spoken)  impart 
any  portion  of  his  own  infinite  essence,  he  cannot  divide  or  diminish, 
multiply  or  increase,  what  properly  constitutes  himself,  his  personality,  or, 
as  the  French  and  Germans  call  it,  the  infinite  and  eternal  ME.  No  crea- 
ture, then,  however  highly  endowed,  is  God,  or  a  part  of  God.  He  may 
be  made  in  the  image  of  God,  that  is  to  say,  he  may  be  created  a  spiritual, 
intelligent  and  moral  agent ;  but  he  cannot  partake  of  his  essence  or  per- 
sonality, which  is  equally  incapable  of  division  or  multiplication. 

God  has  the  power  of  creation  j  an  original  and  peculiar,  as  well  as 
mysterious  and  amazing  power.  He  speaks,  and  it  is  done;  he  commands, 
and  it  stands  fast.  But  to  say  that  he  creates  by  giving  out  portions  of 

15 


174  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

After  this,  is  there  one  of  us  who  will  dare  to  say  that  it 
is  the  law  which  concerns  us,  and  not  the  Lawgiver? 

You  place  your  Creator  on  the  same  level  with  a  human 
legislator,  and  because  the  latter  demands  nothing  more 
than  obedience,  you  claim  that  God  will  not  demand  more. 
But  in  the  divine  Legislator,  do  you  recognize  nothing  more 
than  a  legislator  ?  Is  there  nothing  but  the  law  between 
you  and  God  ?  Is  it  the  law  which  has  conferred  upon  you 
so  many  means  of  enjoyment  and  happiness  ?  Is  it  the  law 
which  has  conceded  to  you  the  empire  of  nature  ?  Is  it  the 
law  which  has  formed  between  you  and  your  kindred  the 

himself,  or  parting  with  his  own  essence,  now  forming  souls  of  it,  and 
now  bodies,  is  assuming  what  can  never  be  proved,  and  what  seems  to 
contradict  our  most  necessary  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  God.  For  if 
God  creates  thus,  then  all  spirits,  and  not  only  so,  but  all  matter,  is  God. 
Every  thing  is  God,  and  God  is  every  thing.  This  is  the  idea  of  Panthe- 
ism. It  is  the  very  basis  of  the  doctrine  of  an  impersonal  God,  from 
which  the  atheism  and  impiety  of  "young  Germany"  are  legitimately 
born.  For  if  the  premises  be  just,  the  conclusion  is  logical  and  irresistible. 
But  the  doctrine  of  Pantheism,  whether  it  appear  in  the  gorgeous  dreams 
of  oriental  theosophy,  the  subtleties  of  Spinoza  and  Hegel,  or  the  blasphe- 
mous ravings  of  Gutzkow  and  Heine,  is  neither,  in  its  premises  nor  con- 
clusion, the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  nor  of  common  sense.  For  while  God 
is  "  in  all  and  through  all,"  he  is  above  all  and  independent  of  all.  The 
soul  of  man  is  a  creation,  so  is  his  body,  so  are  all  souls  and  all  bodies- 
"In  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  "  He  said, 
Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  He  said  "  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image,"  and  man  was  made  in  his  image.  But  while  the  soul  exhibited 
the  image  of  God,  it  was  neither  God  nor  a  part  of  God,  but  a  separate 
being,  a  free  and  responsible  agent,  under  law  to  the  Almighty.  "  Our  God 
made  the  heavens."  "  From  him  cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift." 
The  God  of  the  Bible,  then,  the  God  of  Christianity,  is  a  personal  God,  an 
infinite  but  independent  Intelligence,  a  holy  and  ever-blessed  Sovereign, 
to  whom  we  owe  the  homage  of  the  heart,  the  obedience  of  the  life. 

This  is  a  subject  of  great  importance,  and  cannot  be  discussed  in  a  note ; 
but  we  could  not  justify  ourselves  in  passing  it  over  in  silence.  Our 
author's  views  are,  doubtless,  scriptural  and  philosophical,  but  the  expres- 
sion in  the  text  required  this  explanation.  His  definition  of  God  is 
remarkably  striking,  and  reminds  us  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's,  which  is  the 
best  we  have  ever  seen.  We  subjoin  it  with  a  translation.  The  original 
may  be  found  in  Dugald  Stewart's  Dissertations,  Part  II,  p.  105,  Note. 


GLORY    BEFORE    GOD.  175 

mysterious  and  delightful  union  of  hearts  ?  No ;  in  these 
immense  benefits,  one  of  which  would  suffice  for  the  happi- 
ness of  beings  less  privileged,  the  Lawgiver  conceals  him- 
self, and  the  Father  appears,  a  father  whose  goodness  trans- 
cends all  thought.  And  you  think  that  a  cold  and  servile 
obedience  can  acquit  you  before  him  !  You  think  that  the 
power  to  love  which  he  has  planted  in  your  bosom  ought 
never  to  remount  to  him  !  That  all  your  obedience  should 
not  be  love  !  That  your  heart  should  not  seek  beyond  the 
law  and  beyond  the  Lawgiver,  the  Father,  the  Goodness, 
the  Love,  from  whom  proceed  for  you,  life,  and  even  love 
and  felicity  !  And  you  say  coldly,  unnatural  creatures  !  We 
obey, — it  is  enough  ;  are  we  not  acquitted?  And  of  that 
law  which  you  pretend  to  fulfil,  do  you  not  understand  that 
you  have  violated  the  first  and  the  greatest  commandment, 
by  refusing  to  God  love  for  love  !  No, — tell  me  not  that  in 
the  law  you  honor  the  Lawgiver  ;  unless,  perhaps,  he  should 
be  honored  by  fear !  Tell  me  not  that  your  homage  secures 
your  felicity,  unless,  perhaps,  a  feeling,  which,  in  all  its 
power,  could  not  draw  a  demon  from  hell,  may  suffice  by 
itself  to  introduce  you  into  heaven  !  The  law,  practised  in 
such  a  spirit,  kills,  does  not  save  you. 

"  Deus  eternus  est  et  infinitus,  omnipotens  et  omnisciens;  id  est;  durat 
ab  aeterno  in  aeternum,  et  adest  ab  infinite  in  infinitum.  Won  est  aeternitas 
et  infinitas,  sed  aeternus  et  infinitus  5  non  est  duratio  et  spatium  sed  durat 
et  adest.  Durat  semper  et  adest  ubique,  et  existendo  semper  et  ubique, 
durationem  et  spatium  constituit." — "  God  is  eternal  and  infinite,  omnipo- 
tent and  omniscient  5  that  is,  he  endures  from  eternity  to  eternity,  and  is 
present  from  infinity  to  infinity.  He  is  not  eternity  and  infinity,  but  eter- 
nal and  infinite ;  he  is  not  duration  and  space,  but  endures  and  is  present, 
He  endures  always  and  is  present  every  where,  and  by  existing  always  and 
every  where,  constitutes  duration  and  space." 

What  a  comment  on  the  1  AM  THAT  I  AM,  of  Moses  ! 
"  Tell  them  I  AM  !  Jehovah  said 
To  Moses,  while  earth  heard  in  dread, 

And  smitten  to  the  heart, 
At  once  above,  beneath,  around, 
All  nature,  without  voice  or  sound, 

Replied,  O  LORD,  THOU  ART  !  "  T. 


176  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

Y"ou  honor  conscience  !  Indeed,  I  believe  it.  It  would 
be  difficult  not  to  honor  it,  to  a  certain  extent.  It  would 
not  pardon  neglect.  Invisible  sting,  planted  by  the  side  of 
the  soul,  the  least  irregular  motion  impels  the  soul  against 
that  hidden  point,  and  inflicts  a  painful  wound.  But 
if  conscience,  after  God  had  been  exiled  from  the  human 
heart,  still  remained  there,  it  would  be  incessantly  to  warn 
it  of  God.  But  who  receives  that  warning  ?  You  recognize 
the  authority  of  conscience ;  you  say  that  you  have  fre- 
quently heard  it ;  but  you  ascend  no  higher.  Thing  truly 
inconceivable  !  Separated  from  the  idea  of  God,  conscience, 
in  our  nature,  is  nothing  but  a  mockery,  an  enigma,  a  non- 
entity. Well,  it  is  on  this  very  footing  that  the  greater 
part  of  mankind  admit  it.  Indeed,  you  see  some,  to  whom 
the  idea  of  the  judgments  of  God  and  a  final  responsibility 
is  completely  foreign,  who  at  least  reject  it,  and  who,  nev- 
ertheless, speak  fluently  of  conscience  as  their  internal 
guide  ;  forgetting  that  if  conscience  has  no  one  from  whom 
it  derives  authority,  and  to  whom  it  can  appeal,  if  it  does 
not  deduce  its  power  from  God,  it  has  nothing  to  say,  noth- 
ing to  command.  Why  is  it  heard  ?  Why  is  it  acknowl- 
edged ?  Because  this  is  not  a  matter  of  choice.  Conscience 
is  in  us ;  nor  does  it  depend  on  us  that  it  should  not  be  there ; 
absent,  we  cannot  recall  it ;  present,  we  cannot  deny  its 
presence.  But  its  presence,  often  otherwise  unpleasant, 
and  viewed  with  an  evil  eye,  is  not  the  presence  of  God. 
Conscience  is  only  the  permanent  and  indelible  imprint  of 
a  powerful  hand,  which  after  having  pressed  us,  is  with- 
drawn from  us,  or  rather  from  which  a  hostile  force  has 
torn  us.  The  hand  is  gone,  the  imprint  remains.  That 
mysterious  impression,  which  we  have  not  made  upon  our- 
selves, leads  the  man  who  reflects,  to  a  confused  idea  of 
God.  It  causes  him  to  infer,  and  to  seek  after  the  absent 
hand ;  but,  by  itself,  it  cannot  enable  him  to  find  it. 

Would  you  have  a  sensible  idea  of  conscience  in  man  ? 


GLORY    BEFORE    GOD.  177 

An  ungrateful  child,  impelled  by  infatuated  pride,  and 
seduced  by  evil  counsels,  escapes  from  the  paternal  roof  to 
taste  an  independence  which  has  been  represented  to  him 
as  the  greatest  of  blessings.  He  plunges  into  the  world, 
without  means  or  prospect.  His  disorders  and  excesses, 
though  they  may  not  provoke  the  severity  of  civil  justice, 
mark  him,  in  all  places,  under  his  distinctive  traits,  as  a 
rebellious  and  unnatural  son.  But  in  the  midst  of  his 
wanderings,  something  indicates  that  he  is  derived  from  a 
good  family  ;  in  his  language,  a  happy  choice  of  expression ; 
in  his  manners,  something  superior  ;  in  his  behaviour,  even 
honorable  actions,  which  form  a  striking  contrast  with  the 
general  character  of  his  life  ;  in  a  word,  a  lingering  some- 
thing which  it  is  difficult  to  efface  from  the  original  habits 
of  a  man  well  brought  up,  accompanies  him  into  all  the 
places  and  all  the  societies  where  such  merit  is  least  appre- 
ciated. It  seems  as  if  we  might  expect  every  species  of 
evil  from  a  being  who  has  voluntarily  broken  the  heart  of 
a  father;  and  yet,  quite  often,  when  the  seduction  of  exam- 
ple impels  him  to  overleap  the  last  barriers  of  honor,  he 
hesitates,  he  draws  back ;  self-respect  appears  to  hold  him. 
still.  Clinging  to  him,  in  spite  of  himself,  the  recollections 
of  his  first  condition  follow  him,  surround  him,  and  inter- 
cept, on  the  way  to  his  heart,  a  part  at  least,  of  the  pesti- 
lential malaria  which  the  world  exhales,  and  prevents  him 
from  running  from  excess  to  excess,  and  from  fall  to  fall, 
through  all  the  possible  consequences  of  his  first  crime. 

Faithful  image  of  man  in  his  state  of  defection,  conscience 
yet  speaks  to  him.  Sometimes  he  follows  it ;  but  as  for 
Him  in  whose  name  it  speaks,  who  has  planted  it  in  the 
bosom  of  man  as  a  perpetual  monitor,  as  a  cry  of  recall 
incessantly  repeated, — he  hears  him  not,  he  serves  him  not, 
nay  more,  he  abjures  him;  and  yet  he  cannot  be  still, 
because,  after  all,  he  has,  now  and  then,  yielded  something 
to  the  clamorous  importunities  of  conscience  !  Ah  !  if  he 
15* 


178  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL 

had  always  heard  it,  always  followed  it,  the  difference  would 
not  have  been  great,  for  it  is  not  thus  that  God  teaches  his 
rights  and  our  duty.  Whatever  may  be  the  dignity  of  con- 
science, a  dignity  it  borrows  from  God,  God  will  not  be 
supplanted  by  it.  Far  from  yielding  to  it  any  of  his  rights, 
far  indeed  from  abdicating  his  authority  in  its  favor,  as 
some  appear  to  suppose,  God,  who  will  not  permit  prescrip- 
tion to  be  established  in  opposition  to  his  claims,  has  some- 
times commanded  conscience  itself  to  be  silent  before  him. 
It  is  on  the  idea  of  his  immediate  right  to  obedience  that 
many  of  the  dispensations  and  decrees  of  the  ancient  econ- 
omy rest.  Indeed,  if  you  look  at  that  history  as  a  whole, 
you  see  that  while  God,  in  general,  respects  his  own  work, 
by  recognizing  and  even  sanctioning  tbe  moral  law,  which 
he  has  written,  from  the  beginning,  in  the  human  heart, 
you  perceive  also,  that,  as  he  occasionally  intervenes  by  his 
power,  in  the  working  of  miracles,  without  changing  in  any 
respects  the  combination  of  forces  of  which  he  has  composed 
the  universe,  so  likewise,  in  the  sphere  of  morals,  he  imposes 
a  momentary  silence  on  the  sensibilities  of  our  nature,  and 
even  on  our  conscience,  by  commanding  what  these  would 
not  even  have  permitted.  While  Abraham  is  commended 
for  having  led  his  son  to  the  funeral  pile,  in  spite  of  the 
murmurs  of  the  paternal  heart,  and  Saul  is  punished  for 
having  obeyed  an  emotion  of  pity,  and  not  committing 
what,  on  another  occasion,  would  have  been  called  an  abuse 
of  victory,  do  we  not  recognize  in  these  two  terrible  facts  a 
striking  symbol  of  the  truth  which  I  advocate,  namely, 
that  God  is  above  conscience,  that  it  is  to  him  our  obedi- 
ence ought  to  be  addressed,  and  that  his  divine  jealousy 
cannot  be  satisfied  at  a  less  price  ?  * 

*The  procedure  of  God  is  ever  in  harmony  with  conscience  and  law. 
So  far  as  these  are  perfect  they  are  but  an  expression  of  the  divine  char- 
acter and  will.  He  may  seem  to  suspend  their  action,  as  in  the  case  of 
Abraham  and  of  Saul,  but  the  result  shows  that  he  was,  all  the  time,  acting 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  17 

Let  us  confirm  these  principles  by  an  important  consid- 
eration. It  is,  that  obedience  to  God,  I  mean  to  God  imme- 
diately, is  alone  capable  of  producing  virtue.  If  recalling 
all  that  we  have  conceded,  in  a  preceding  discourse,  some 
should  find  in  this  assertion  a  contradiction,  as  well  as  a 
paradox,  they  will  give  some  attention  to  what  remains  for 
us  to  say. 

Is  virtue  a  word,  or  a  thing,  a  fiction,  or  a  reality  ?  If 
it  is  a  thing,  a  distinct  reality,  it  must  be  one  in  its  princi- 
ple, one  in  its  origin.  If  it  has  several  principles,  it  is  sev- 
eral things  at  once;  it  is  an  artificial  assemblage  of  several 
phenomena,  on  which  has  been  imposed  a  collective  name, 
and  the  real  nature  of  which  remains  by  itself  inexplicable. 
It  must  necessarily  be  admitted,  that  beyond  filial  piety, 
justice,  benevolence,  veracity,  chastity,  there  is  one  thing 
which  is  none  of  these  in  particular,  and  which  embraces 
them  all  at  once  ;  a  principle,  according  to  which  we  are 
not  only  respectful  sons,  or  just,  benevolent,  sincere,  or 
chaste  men ;  but  all  this  at  once,  all  that  we  ought  to  be  ; 
a  general  power  which  must  conform  our  soul  to  moral 


in  harmony  with  their  fundamental  principles.  But  as  the  law  resolves 
itself  into  the  will  of  God,  and  he  has  the  sovereign  disposal  of  life  and 
death,  he  has  a  right  to  take  the  life  of  his  creatures,  or  command  it  to  be 
taken  whenever  he  pleases.  Still,  he  will  always  act  in  harmony  with  law, 
that  is  to  say,  with  his  own  nature.  "  He  cannot  deny  himself."  "  Shall 
not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  1"  But  he  must  be  judged  by  hi3 
own  standard  ;  he  must  be  permitted  to  interpret  his  own  doings.  He  has, 
therefore,  only  appeared,  in  special  exigences,  ajid  for  purposes  at  once 
good  and  wise,  to  suspend  the  action  of  natural  and  moral  laws  j  but  he 
has  never  annulled  them,  never  violated  them.  All  has  been  order  in 
nature  ;  all  has  been  righteousness  in  morals.  If  at  any  time,  his  hand  has 
parted  the  clouds,  or  laid  itself  upon  the  conscience  of  man,  it  has  been 
done  to  show  that  he  is  infinite  and  supreme  5  that  he  is  above  all  law  and 
conscience  ;  or  rather  that  he  is  one  with  a  perfect  law  and  a  perfect  con- 
science, and  can  use  them,  as  he  pleases,  to  promote  the  sublime  purposes 
of  his  providence  and  grace.  Hence,  to  pretend  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
conscience,  or  obey  the  law,  independent  of  the  will  and  authority  of  the 
Lawgiver,  is  truly  "  a  profound  absurdity."  T. 


180  MAN   DEPRIVED    OF   ALL 

order  in  all  its  extent,  and  cause  us  to  love  it  in  all  its 
applications  ;  which,  in  a  word,  creates  in  us,  not  virtues  but 
virtue.  Does  this  word  virtue,  in  its  general  or  abstract 
sense,  signify  any  thing  ?  Is  it  a  central  fountain,  of  which 
particular  virtues  are  the  streams,  a  trunk,  of  which  par- 
ticular virtues  are  the  branches  ?  If  you  deny  this,  you 
are  on  the  way  to  materialism;  for  it  alone  can  solve  your 
theory.  If,  on  the  contrary,  you  affirm  it,  point  out  to  us 
this  trunk,  this  source.  The  discovery  of  this  original 
principle  has  been  for  a  long  time  the  task  and  the  despair 
of  moral  philosophy.  Will  you  seek  for  it  in  the  con- 
science ?  From  the  conscience,  in  its  actual  state,  you  may 
derive  some  particular  virtues,  but  their  course,  followed 
back,  will  not  enable  you  to  reach  the  primitive  stratum, 
the  original  treasury,  whence  these  waters  flow.  What 
is  there,  in  the  conscience  of  man,  more  general  than 
that  which  we  have  already  cited,  "  As  ye  would  that 
others  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them?"  But 
how  far  is  this  from  embracing  the  whole  extent  of  moral 
being !  How  should  such  an  axiom  contain  the  obligation 
to  purify  the  heart  ?  How  could  you  conclude  from  it  the 
duty  of  rendering  to  God  the  homage  which  is  his  due  ? 
Vast  as  it  is,  it  does  not  embrace  the  half  of  our  duties. 
And  in  practice,  what  deficiencies,  what  inconsistencies, 
would  it  not  permit  to  remain  !  What,  then,  is  human 
morality,  but  a  disconnected  and  fragmentary  thing,  even 
in  the  man  who  is  the  most  distinguished  for  his  character  ! 
In  vain  do  you  search  there  for  the  common  principle  of 
all  morality.  In  a  word,  he  derives  from  his  conscience 
only  some  virtues  ;  he  cannot  derive  from  it  virtue. 

Hence  it  is,  that  virtue  ought  not  be  sought  after,  any 
where  below  God,  who  is  its  supreme  and  only  source.  In 
fact,  the  love  of  God  is  virtue.  The  power  which  pro- 
duces in  man  simultaneously,  as  from  a  single  fountain, 
all  the  virtues,  dwells  only  in  this  sentiment.  Thus  it  is, 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  181 

that  in  the  production  of  this  affection  in  the  human  bosom, 
the  Scriptures  make  regeneration  to  consist.  It  does  not 
teach  us  to  be  virtuous  by  successive  additions,  by  placing 
one  virtue,  so  to  speak,  side  by  side  with  another.  It  unites 
us  to  God  by  faith ;  and  this  faith  which  produces  love, 
develops  simultaneously  in  the  renewed  soul  all  those 
qualities  and  habits,  the  combination  of  which  forms  virtue. 
And  it  is  because  he  plants  that  one  germ  in  the  very  cen- 
tre of  the  soul,  and  not  at  different  points  on  its  surface, 
that  he  attaches  a  sovereign  importance  to  internal  dispo- 
sitions. The  Bible  alone  has  said,  with  a  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  its  cause,  "  From  the  heart  proceed  the  springs  of 
life."  Social  virtues,  followed  as  an  end,  by  the  ordinary 
moralist,  are  in  the  eyes  of  the  Christian  moralist  only  the 
development  of  internal  virtue,  the  sign  and  manifestation 
of  its  presence  in  the  soul.  Human  morality,  in  its  most 
perfect  slate,  is  only  an  ingenious  mosaic,  the  least  con- 
cussion of  which,  makes  it  a  heap  of  variegated  rubbish ; 
Christian  morality  is  the  mighty  pyramid,  every  part  of 
which  finds  the  same  support  in  its  immense  base,  immova- 
ble as  the  ground  upon  which  it  stands.^ 

*  The  materialists  derive  the  idea  of  virtue  from  order,  fitness,  harmony, 
utility  5  and  since  the  maxim  of  their  philosophy  is,  nlhil  est  in  intellectu, 
quod  nonfuit  prius  in  sensu,  there  is  nothing  in  the  intellect,  which  was 
not  first  in  the  senses ;  virtue,  according  to  them,  is  a  thing  altogether 
outward  and  artificial,  a  matter  of  mere  expediency,  or  of  taste.  The  Spir- 
itualists, on  the  other  hand,  maintain  that  it  is  innate  and  universal.  Some 
of  them  would  perhaps  say,  that  it  is  reason  in  its  highest  state,  or  that  it 
is  God  in  the  soul.  This  latter  view,  though-  an  approach  to  the  truth,  is 
yet  vague  and  unsatisfactory.  Indeed,  every  one  acquainted  with  the  his- 
tory of  metaphysical  inquiries,  knows  that  no  subject  has  more  completely 
bewildered  and  baffled  the  profoundest  thinkers.  But  even  if  the  nature 
of  virtue  were  perfectly  understood,  the  great  question  would  yet  remain, 
How  is  it  to  be  produced  in  the  human  heart  1  Our  author  says,  that  the 
love  of  God  is  its  basis,  or  source ;  and  he  is  unquestionably  right.  For 
this  affection,  the  strongest  and  purest  in  man,  placed  on  an  infinite  object 
is  alone  fitted  to  control  the  whole  life.  It  then  becomes  universal,  resist- 
less and  inexhaustible.  From  ita  very  nature,  it  renders  virtue  precious 


182  MAN   DEPRIVED    OF    ALL 

With  whatever  pretensions  man  may  approach  his 
divine  Judge,  he  cannot  present  himself  with  virtue;  he  has 
it  not,  for  he  has  not  the  love  of  God.  What  glory,  then, 
could  he  find  before  God  ?  Acknowledge  that  all  occasion 
of  glorifying  himself  is  excluded ;  excluded  for  the  man 
whom  the  world  despises  ;  excluded  for  him  whom,  it 
esteems.  "  There  is  no  difference,"  says  the  apostle,  "  for 
all  have  sinned."  Up  to  this  point,  the  possibility  of  a 
difference  may  be  conceived ;  but  he  adds,  "  and  are  de- 
prived of  all  glory  before  God."  Here  differences  disappear ; 
for  this  sin,  which  is  sin  properly  speaking,  is  the  same 
in  all.  In  this  point  of  view,  the  most  generous  man  has 
a  hard  heart,  the  most  just  is  unrighteous,  the  most  honor- 
able, unfaithful,  the  most  loyal,  rebellious,  the  most  pure, 
adulterous  ;  for  every  thing  he  has  spared  his  fellow-men, 
he  has  done  to  God.^ 

Do  not  suppose  we  are  ignorant  of  all  the  murmurs, 
which  feeling  or  natural  prejudice  may  raise  against  this 
declaration.  We  might  confine  ourselves  tg  replying  that 
it  remains  true  notwithstanding,  and  with  an  evidence 
stronger  than  all  prejudices.  But  the  consideration  of  an 
interesting  fact  will  double,  if  it  be  necessary,  the  evidence 
already  so  great. 

for  its  own  sake,  and  dearer  than  all  other  interests.    By  enthroning  God 
in  the  soul,  it  makes  truth  and  holiness  omnipotent  and  immortal.        T. 

*  This,  an  objector  might  say,  is  to  confound  all  moral  distinctions.  But 
if  the  author's  premises  are  true,  his  conclusions  are  inevitable.  If  man 
is  destitute  of  love  to  God,  the  fundamental  principle  of  virtue,  he  is  desti- 
tute of  all  true  morality.  His  heart  is  corrupt,  and  his  outward  and  tem- 
porary virtues  are  radically  defective.  They  may  be  useful  in  society,  but 
they  do  not  unite  him  to  God,  nor  fit  him  for  immortality.  He  is  con- 
demned by  the  state  of  his  heart,  with  which  the  government  of  God  is 
chiefly  occupied,  and  must  therefore  be  ranked  with  the  ungrateful  and 
disobedient.  He  needs,  as  well  as  they,  to  be  forgiven  and  renewed.  If 
saved  at  all,  he  must  be  saved  by  grace,  as  much  as  the  Thief  on  the  cross, 
Mary  Magdalene,  or  Saul  of  Tarsus.  "  God  hath  concluded  them  all  in 
unbelief  (rebellion)  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all."  T. 


GLORY    BEFORE    GOD.  183 

It  would  be  natural  to  presume,  that  the  more  virtuous  a 
man  was,  the  less  disposed  we  should  find  him  to  subscribe 
to  the  doctrine  of  our  text,  or  at  least  to  permit  himself  to  be 
placed,  in  this  respect,  on  the  same  level  with  a  man 
decidedly  vicious.  I  do  not  deny,  that  we  might  easily 
find,  among  honorable  people,  some  specimens  of  this 
natural  pharisaism.  But  what  we  often  meet  with  among 
the  noblest  souls,  and  much  more  frequently  among  them 
than  others,  is  a  disposition  to  complain  of  themselves, 
and  voluntarily  to  place  themselves  below  those  persons 
who,  in  the  general  opinion,  are  greatly  their  inferiors. 
May  it  not  be  that  these  noble  spirits,  to  whom  their  very 
superiority  may  be  the  commencement  of  a  revelation,  per- 
ceive dimly,  that  in  the  midst  of  their  amiable  virtues, 
virtue  itself  is  wanting  ?  We  go  further :  let  these  souls 
come  in  contact  with  Christianity.  To  whom,  according 
to  common  notions,  is  it  less  necessary  than  to  them  ?  Have 
they  not  already,  by  virtue  of  their  character,  the  greater 
part  of  what  it  can  give  them  ?  Alas  !  many  imagine  it  to 
be  really  so  !  But  many  more,  and  that  is  sufficient  for  our 
purpose,  judge  very  differently.  In  the  midst  of  their  vir- 
tues, so  highly  lauded,  a  want,  not  of  perfection  only,  but  of 
forgiveness,  and  of  grace,  takes  powerful  possession  of  their 
minds;  they  confess  frankly  that  they  have  no  subject  of 
glory  before  God.  Speak  to  them  of  their  virtues,  they  ask 
if  these  virtues  prevent  their  life  from  being  a  continued 
course  of  transgressions  of  the  divine  law.  Speak  to  them 
of  the  intrinsic  worth  of  their  virtues,  and  you  will  see  them 
smile  mournfully ;  for  they  know  the  defectiveness  of  these 
virtues,  entirely  human,  and  so  far  removed  from  every 
principle  of  religious  obedience.  It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to* 
refuse  the  testimony  of  such  men ;  it  would  be  contrary  to 
all  good  usage,  to  place  more  confidence  in  those  who  boast, 
than  in  those  who  accuse  themselves.  It  would  be  to  sus- 
pect the  truth  in  a  case  where  there  is  the  least  reason  io 


184  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF    ALL 

suspect  it,  and  to  deny  the  wisdom  of  those  to  whom  you 
have  not  been  able  hitherto  to  refuse  it.  It  would  be  to 
admit  that  it  is  impossible  that  a  careful  examination  of 
himself  and  of  the  divine  law  may  conduct  a  man  of  sense 
to  moral  views  different  from  those  of  persons  who  have 
not  made  such  an  examination ;  in  a  word,  it  would  furnish 
evidence  of  a  superficialness  which  would  not  be  pardoned 
in  any  other  matter.  I  am  persuaded,  that  a  phenomenon 
like  the  one  in  question,  at  the  very  least,  is  worthy  of  the 
most  serious  attention,  and  that  no  one  ought  to  set  it  aside, 
before  he  has  explained  it. 

For  us,  if  our  opinion  were  asked,  we  avow  that  the 
madness  of  human  pride  amazes  us.  Man  bends  under  the 
burden  of  his  iniquities ;  horrors  crowd  his  bloody  history ; 
an  odor  of  death  exhales  from  the  bosom  of  society ;  the  life 
of  each  man  is,  from  his  own  confession,  a  tissue  of  trans- 
gressions, and,  considered  with  reference  to  the  claims  of 
God,  a  long  and  persevering  infidelity.  Terrible  assertions, 
none  of  which  he  can  disavow.  The  Son  of  God  comes  to 
seek  him  in  the  depths  of  this  appalling  degradation.  So 
long  as  that  dishonored  creature  can  hear  him,  he  calls 
to  him,  with  the  word  of  grace  ;  he  exhorts  him  to  attach 
himself  to  him,  and  promises  that,  under  his  guidance,  he 
shall  be  able  to  stand  without  fear  in  the  presence  of  his 
Judge.  One  moment ! — cries  the  proud  criminal, — one  mo- 
ment !  Who  hath  said  that  I  have  need  of  grace ;  and  on 
what  ground  does  he  come  to  offer  me  that  humiliating 
benefit?  And  my  virtues,  have  they  been  estimated  ?  Is 
it  pretended  that  they  need  grace  ?  Must  I  drag,  as  sup- 
pliants, these  noble  companions  of  my  life,  to  the  foot  of 
a  tribunal  where  crime  alone  ought  to  appear  ?  If  my  sins 
have  need  of  indulgence,  my  virtues  claim  nothing  but 
justice ;  and  yet  it  is  pretended  to  absolve  them  !  Yes,  it 
is  pretended  to  absolve  them,  unhappy  one,  whom  pride 
deceives  !  But  what  difference  will  it  make  ?  With  them,  or 


GLORY   BEFORE    GOD.  185 

without  them,  you  are  condemned ;  midnight  is  about  to 
strike ;  the  bridegroom  is  at  the  door  !  Is  your  lamp  burn- 
ing ?  Is  your  soul  united  to  God  ?  Are  you  his  by  the 
dispositions  of  your  heart  ?  Can  you  be  happy  in  the 
society  of  saints,  of  Christ,  and  of  God  himself  ?  This,  this 
is  the  real  question,  the  vital  question ;  and  in  this  solemn 
hour,  when  your  terrestrial  dwelling  is  about  to  fall  upon 
your  head,  when  a  single  moment  only  is  given  you  to 
escape,  you  lose  it,  by  picking  up  some  useless  ruins,  with 
which  you  cannot  live,  and  by  which,  on  the  contrary,  you 
will  perish. 

Sinners  virtuous,  sinners  vicious !  hear  once  more  the 
word  of  the  apostle,  "  There  is  no  difference,  for  all  have 
sinned;  both  the  one  and  the  other  are  deprived  of  all  glory 
before  God." 

But  to  sinners  of  every  kind,  to  us  all,  to  the  whole 
world,  the  man  of  God  cries  in  the  Scriptures,  "  God  hath 
concluded  all  in  rebellion,  that  he  may  have  mercy  upon 
all."  With  him  there  is  no  respect  of  persons,  no  respect 
of  sins  ;  he  stops  not  at  some  shades  of  difference  ;  he  does 
not  apply  to  us  our  own  vain  measures ;  for  the  original 
crime  is  equal  in  all ;  and  since  he  has  included  all  in 
rebellion,  he  includes  all  in  mercy.  Laborers  of  the  first, 
of  the  second,  of  the  eleventh  hour !  nay  more,  ye  who 
were  not  laborers  at  all,  and  who,  having  arrived  at  the 
fatal  hour  of  midnight,  have  nothing  to  offer  your  Master 
but  confusion  and  tears,  there  is  room  for  you  all  in  his 
arms.  But  you  must  throw  yourselves  there ;  you  must  seek 
no  other  aid ;  you  must  not  expose  yourselves  to  the  male- 
diction of  the  prophet,  "  Cursed  be  they  who  go  down  to 
Egypt  for  help!"  That  is,  cursed  be  they  who,  refusing  to 
be  saved  by  pure  grace,  take  refuge  in  the  recollection  of 
their  good  works,  their  good  will,  their  good  intentions,  or 
in  a  false  pretext  of  a  feebleness  which  they  could  not  van- 
quish, or  in  the  impious  idea  that  God  will  pardon  them  at 
16 


186  MAN   DEPRIVED   OF   ALL   GLORY. 

.- 

the  expense  of  his  justice !  The  amnesty  is  doubtless  for 
all,  for  all  equally ;  but  it  must  be  accepted  just  as  it  is 
offered ;  not  as  a  right,  but  as  a  gift ;  not  as  an  abandonment 
of  the  principles  of  the  divine  government,  but  as  the  price 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  return  for  the  ransom 
he  has  paid  and  the  pledge  he  has  offered.  Such  are  the 
feelings  with  which  we  must  come  before  that  offended 
Master,  who  alone  has  a  right  to  regulate  and  appoint  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  which  he  will  conclude  with  us.  It 
would  be  to  sanction  and  confirm  the  first  rebellion  by  a 
second,  to  dispute  about  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  to  propose 
modifications  of  it,  to  cavil  about  the  clauses,  say  rather, 
not  to  accept  it,  with  all  the  eagerness  of  gratitude,  and  all 
the  fervor  of  love.  Weigh  all  these  things,  my  dear  brethren, 
and  let  those  who  feel  internally  that  they  are  not  recon- 
ciled to  God,  ask  themselves  without  delay :  Why  do  we 
hesitate  to  conclude  with  divine  justice  ?  Shall  we  persist, 
without  a  shadow  of  hope,  in  making  common  cause  with 
rebels  ?  Do  we  wish  that  death  should  surprise  us  included 
in  revolt  ?  Let  the  world  insult  our  feebleness;  there  is  no 
cowardice  in  capitulating  with  God.  He  is  mad  who  would 
sell,  to  a  vain  renown  for  courage,  the  hopes  of  eternity ! 
Unhappy  he  who  can  spend  a  whole  life  without  loving 
and  serving  God !  We  are  here,  then,  O  Lord ;  take  us  to 
thyself,  take  us  wholly ;  we  would  not  live  to  ourselves,  we 
would  live  only  to  Him  who  hath  loved  us  first,  loved  us 
with  an  eternal  love  ! 


XII. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  CHRISTIAN  MORALITY. 

"  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us." — 2  COB.  5 :  14. 

A  SHORT  time  since,  one  of  those  fugitive  publications 
which  are  intended  to  offer  daily  aliment  to  the  public 
curiosity,  called  the  attention  of  its  readers  to  a  new  work, 
which  ought,  if  we  might  believe  the  critic,  to  alarm  all 
the  friends  of  pure  morality.  That  dangerous  work  devel- 
ops an  idea  which  shows  how  the  doctrine,  and  perhaps 
the  intention  of  the  author,  is  corrupted,  namely,  that  all 
the  efforts  of  man  cannot  secure  his  salvation,  and  that  he 
can  do  nothing  to  merit  it.  You  will  ask  me  what  that 
book  so  severely  criticised  is.  I  know  not,  for  it  is  not 
even  named ;  but  it  might  be  the  New  Testament.  For 
the  New  Testament  also  declares  that  man  is  not  saved  by 
his  works ;  that  the  gift  of  salvation  is  entirely  gratuitous ; 
and  that  it  is  neither  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that 
runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy.  And  since  the 
gospel  neither  supposes  nor  admits  of  any  other  means  of 
salvation,  it  clearly  follows  that  no  other  means  which  we 
may  attempt  would  conduct  us  to  that  result,  not  even  the 
greatest  efforts  we  could  make  to  fulfil  the  will  of  God. 


188  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY. 

Such  is  the  doctrine  in  all  its  nakedness,  I  was  going  to 
say,  in  all  its  crudeness.  What,  then,  must  we  do  ?  As 
to  the  men  who  call  themselves  Christians,  and  yet  censure 
these  doctrines,  it  would,  perhaps,  be  sufficient  to  reduce 
them  to  silence,  by  showing  them  that  the  doctrines  they 
revile  are  the  very  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  that  the 
church,  for  about  eighteen  centuries,  has  professed  and 
proclaimed  them  as  fundamental  truths.  But  as  these 
inconsiderate  critics  exhibit,  besides  a  great  ignorance  of 
the  contents  of  the  New  Testament,  a  striking  want  of 
reflection  and  of  true  philosophy,  it  may  be  proper  to 
examine  the  maxim  in  question,  as  a  simple  idea,  as  a  pure 
theory,  in  the  light  of  reason  alone.  This  is  what  we 
propose  to  undertake ;  and  we  hope  that  the  result  of  this 
investigation  will  show  that  this  doctrine  is  not  only  rea- 
sonable and  moral,  but  that  it  alone  is  reasonable,  that  it 
alone  is  truly  moral. 

And  first  of  all,  let  us  give  a  full  statement  of  the  diffi- 
culty which  is  presented  to  us.  "A  doctrine,"  it  is  said, 
"  which  teaches  that  we  cannot  merit  salvation,  which 
denies  the  sufficiency  and,  consequently,  the  necessity  of 
good  works,  is  directly  contradictory  to  the  idea  of  moral- 
ity; for  morality  is  the  science  of  duty,  and  in  the 
doctrine  objected  to,  there  is  no  place  for  duty.  Moreover, 
this  doctrine  contradicts  the  New  Testament;  for  on  all  its 
pages  it  enjoins  good  works,  while  this  doctrine  excludes 
them."  Let  us  meet  this  objection.  And  to  those  who 
urge  it  upon  us,  let  us,  in  our  turn,  put  some  questions. 

If  there  is  a  religious  morality  that  is  a  system  of  duties 
with  reference  to  our  Creator,  must  we  not  possess  some 
motive  to  induce  us  to  practise  these  duties  ?  It  is  admit- 
ted. Can  there  be  any  other  motive  than  the  two  follow- 
ing, interest  and  devotion?*  No,  it  is  not  possible  to 

*  By  devotion,  devouement,  the  author  means  the  disinterested  love  of 
virtue,  benevolence,  as  some  have  called  it.  T. 


THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY.  189 

conceive  of  a  third.  Well,  then,  to  these  two  motives 
correspond  two  systems,  which  we  proceed  to  examine. 

According  to  the  first  of  these  systems,  every  man  comes 
into  the  world  with  perfect  faculties,  with  obligations 
corresponding  to  these,  and  the  expectation  of  a  destiny 
suited  to  the  manner  in  which  he  shall  have  used  these 
faculties  and  fulfilled  these  obligations.  Between  God 
and  him  there  exists  a  tacit  contract,  a  reciprocal  obligation. 
Man  promises  obedience,  and  God  promises  happiness. 
He  that  does  good  shall  be  recompensed;  he  that  does  evil 
shall  be  punished.  This  is  sufficient  to  make  us  practise 
all  our  duties. 

In  this  first  system,  then,  interest  is  the  motive  proposed 
to  us ;  an  interest,  doubtless,  very  elevated,  nay,  the  great- 
est of  all,  but  still  an  interest.  But  who  does  not,  at  the 
first  glance,  see  how  insufficient  and  defective  is  such 
motive?  In  the  first  place,  this  principle  introduces  into 
morality  a  foreign  element,  we  may  say  a  hostile  element, 
since  virtue  consists  essentially  in  self  sacrifice.  This  prin- 
ciple does  not  at  first  manifest  all  its  hostility  to  the  true 
spirit  of  morality.  But  let  it  work,  and  you  will  speedily 
see  it  subduing  every  thing  to  itself.  It  will  soon  teach 
you  that  it  is  the  result  which  gives  to  actions  all  their 
value ;  that  it  is  the  net  profit  or  loss  which  determines 
their  essential  character ;  that  good  is  no  longer  good  in 
itself;  that  it  is  good  only  as  it  secures  happiness ;  and 
that  vice  is  no  longer  vice  in  itself,  but  that  it  is  vice  only 
as  it  exposes  to  calamity.  Promises  have  only  to  be 
attached  to  vice,  and  it  will  become  virtue,  threatenings  to 
virtue,  and  it  will  become  vice.  Nevertheless,  if  morality 
is  not  a  vain  word,  virtue,  separated  from  its  hopes,  must 
still  be  something;  and  vice,  separated  from  its  dangers, 
must  also  be  something.  This  is  not  all;  for  we  must  not 
forget  that  we  are  treating  of  religious  morality ;  of  duties 
which  have  God  for  their  object ;  and  that  the  first  of  all 
16* 


190  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF   CHRISTIAN   MORALITY. 

these  duties,  the  only  duty,  properly  speaking,  is  love. 
The  law  is  not  fulfilled  except  by  love.  But  interest, 
carried  to  its  utmost  perfection,  selfishness  the  most  refined, 
can  never  rise  to  love.  Under  its  influence  a  man  may 
estimate  the  value  of  actions ;  he  may  make  calculations 
with  reference  to  the  external  life ;  nay  more,  he  may  give 
all  his  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  his  body  to  be  burned ; 
but  he  can  no  more  cause  himself,  by  self-interest,  to  love, 
than  he  can  from  the  collision  of  two  pieces  of  ice  produce 
the  slightest  spark  of  fire. 

Disgusted  with  this  wholly  selfish  morality,  other  minds 
have  dreamed  of  a  different  system.  They  have  absolutely 
excluded  interest,  and  professed  to  cultivate  virtue  for  its 
own  sake.  "  Is  not  virtue,"  say  they,  "  independent  of  the 
advantages  it  procures,  worthy  to  receive  our  homage,  and 
occupy  our  thoughts  ?  Is  it  necessary  for  God,  who  is 
truth,  beauty,  goodness  supreme,  to  encourage  us  by  prom- 
ises, to  frighten  us  by  threatenings,  in  order  to  secure  our 
obedience  ?  In  serving  him,  we  ought  to  blush  to  yield  to 
other  impulses,  than  those  which  result  from  his  perfec- 
tions themselves  ? 

Well,  who  of  us  will  venture  to  say  that  these  are  not 
right  ?  Who  will  not  heartily  subscribe  to  this  elevated 
system  ?  But,  on  the  other  hand,  who  will  realize  it  ?  This 
system  is  beautiful,  it  is  lofty,  it  is  true.  It  has  only  one 
defect, —  it  is  impracticable.  A  truce  to  reasonings  ;  let  us 
speak  only  of  facts.  Where  are  those  who  serve  God  from 
pure  love  ?  Nay,  where  are  those  who  love  God  at  all  ? 
Let  us  not  seek  to  deceive  ourselves.  Those  fugitive 
emotions,  which  the  thought  of  the  Creator,  or  the  contem- 
plation of  his  marvellous  works,  causes  us  to  feel,  those 
superficial  impressions,  otherwise  foreign  to  so  many  hearts, 
are  by  no  means  love.  If  we  love  God  only  when  we  find 
our  happiness  in  subordinating  to  him  our  thoughts,  affec- 
tions, wishes,  nay  more,  our  whole  life ;  if  we  love  God 


THE   PRINCIPLE    OF   CHRISTIAN   MORALITY.  191 

only  when  we  lose  our  will  in  his ;  if  we  love  God  only 
when  offending  him  appears  to  us  the  greatest,  the  only 
calamity  on  earth,  and  pleasing  him  the  greatest,  the  only 
felicity ;  if  we  love  God  only  when  our  heart  places  be- 
tween Him  and  creatures  the  same  distance  he  places 
himself, — answer,  ye  who  hear  me,  who  is  it  that  loves 
God  ?  True,  the  worldling  quite  often  exclaims,  I  cer- 
tainly love  God ;  nay,  who  does  not  love  him  ?  But  nothing 
marks,  with  greater  clearness,  the  estrangement  of  our 
heart,  than  the  audacity  of  this  pretension.  He  who  begins 
to  love  God,  is  the  first  to  be  alarmed  at  his  indifference  to 
God.  We  love  God ! —  ah !  let  us  not  rashly  say  so.  When 
we  shall  cherish  for  him  the  tenth,  the  hundredth  part,  of 
the  affection,  which  we  cherish  for  a  parent,  a  friend,  or 
an  earthly  benefactor,  it  will  be  time,  perhaps,  to  say  that 
we  love  him.  Till  then,  let  us  be  silent,  and  prostrate  in 
the  dust. 

But  if  we  do  not  love  him,  what  becomes  of  that  disin- 
terested morality  which  we  were  right  to  prefer  ?  What 
becomes  of  that  refined  system  of  which  we  were  so  proud  ? 

It  is  true,  that  in  the  world,  there  are  men  who  have  set 
out  to  serve  God.  They  have  acknowledged  that  he  had 
a  right  to  be  served ;  they  have  felt  internally,  the  obliga- 
tion to  devote  to  him  their  life.  But  in  what  has  that 
attempt  terminated,  except  in  proving  that  they  did  not 
really  love  God  ?  The  worldling,  the  frivolous  man,  might 
tell  you,  with  confidence,  that  he  loves  God ;  but  go  and 
ask  troubled  and  burdened  spirits,  who  laboriously  and 
painfully  drag  the  long  chain  of  the  precepts  of  the  law,  go 
and  ask  them  if  they  have  that  love  in  their  hearts.  Ah  ! 
it  is  not  love  of  which  they  will  speak,  but  of  fear,  that  is 
to  say,  of  interest  still.  They  will  tell  you  of  the  majesty 
of  the  divine  law,  of  its  inviolability,  of  its  threatenings. 
They  will  tell  you  that  their  sins  are  a  burden  greater  than 
they  can  bear.  They  will  tell  you  that  instead  of  the 


192  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY. 

Father  they  were  seeking,  they  have  found  only  a  master 
and  a  judge  ;  that  his  wrath  has  concealed  from  them  his 
goodness ;  that  fear  has  left  no  place  for  love,  and  that  before 
loving  they  must  hope. 

Mark  it  well ;  before  they  love,  they  must  hope.  And 
this  is  the  method  of  the  gospel.  It  remains  for  us  to 
develop  it. 

You  have  seen  that  interest  is  not  worthy  to  serve  as  a 
motive  power  to  our  moral  conduct.  You  have  seen,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  an  obedience  based  only  upon  love, 
has  no  place  in  the  heart  of  the  natural  man.  Here,  then, 
we  experience  a  double  embarrassment ;  we  must  discard 
interest,  and  produce  love ;  but  how  discard  interest,  how 
produce  love  ?  The  gospel  engages  to  answer  these  two 
questions. 

Do  this  and  live,  the  majority  of  moralists  say  to  us ;  so 
also  do  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament.  That  is  to 
say,  if  we  regard  the  spirituality,  the  perfection  of  the  law, 
do  what  is  impossible,  and  live  ;  do  what  is  impossible,  or 
perish. 

It  was  necessary  that  such  a  morality  should  be  taught 
in  the  world ;  it  was  necessary,  also,  that  God  should  pro- 
claim it  in  the  old  dispensation ;  it  is  still  necessary  that 
that  it  should  be  preached  in  our  days,  among  those  who 
resist  the  gospel ;  because  the  blessing  must  be  estimated  by 
the  want,  the  remedy  by  the  evil.  Those  who  reject  Jesus 
Christ  must  learn  how  far  they  are  from  fulfilling  the  con- 
ditions of  their  existence,  and  how  much  they  need  that 
the  exigency  thus  created  should  be  met  by  Him  who  can 
meet  all  exigences,  supply  all  deficiencies,  in  a  word,  by 
Him  who  only  can  create ;  for  the  thing  to  be  accomplished 
is  nothing  less  than  a  creation.  In  this  way  law,  or  moral- 
ity, "  is  a  schoolmaster  that  leads  to  Christ."^ 

*  The  apostle  Paul  describes  Christians  as  "  new  creatures,"  or,  as  the 
original  reads,  "  a  new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus."    In  another  passage,  he 


THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY.  193 

But  in  the  case  of  him  whom  the  conviction  of  his  guilt 
and  impotence  has  led  to  Christ,  a  new  order  of  things 
commences,  a  new  morality  springs  up.  The  law  has 
said, —  "do  these  things,  and  live,"  hut  the  language  of  the 
gospel  is, — "live,  and  do  these  things."  In  the  ordinary 
morality,  obedience  precedes  and  produces  salvation ;  in 
that  of  the  gospel,  salvation  precedes  and  produces  obedi- 
ence. 

Do  you  perceive  that  this  simple  transposition  harmo- 
nizes every  thing?  We  knew  not  what  to  do  with  interest, 
nor  where  to  find  love.  Both  of  them  find  a  place  in  this 
system,  but  in  a  new  order,  and  in  a  new  relation.  Might  I 
venture  to  say  the  gospel  expels  our  selfishness  by  satiating 
it,  exhausts  it  by  giving  it  every  thing?  It  effaces  self  as 
its  very  first  act.  At  the  outset,  and  once  for  all,  the 
greater  part  is  given  to  interest,  or  rather  the  whole  is  given 
to  it,  every  thing  that  can  fill  the  capacity  of  the  heart  of 
men  and  of  angels;  eternal  life,  salvation,  in  the  highest 
and  most  perfect  sense  of  the  word.  The  gospel  begins  by 
declaring  that  we  are  saved,  not  by  our  works,  but  inde- 
pendently of  them,  nay,  before  our  works.  It  relieves  us  of 
the  intolerable  burden,  which  caused  us  to  bend  under  the 
obligations  and  terrors  of  the  law.  It  gives  rest  and  en- 
largement to  the  heart.  It  restores  it  to  liberty.  And  of 
this  liberty  what  use  do  we  make  ?  It  is  here  the  beauty 
of  the  evangelical  system  is  seen.  Joyful  over  his  dissi- 
pated fears,  happy  on  account  of  his  deliverance,  and 
tranquil  with  reference  to  his  future  fate,  but,  above  all, 
admitted  to  contemplate  God  in  the  perfect  manifestation 

speaks  of  them  as  passing  "from  death  unto  life."  So  that  the  language 
of  Vinet  is  fully  justified  by  the  word  of  God.  Besides,  does  not  reason 
itself  corroborate  this  view  1  If  man  is  not  pure  and  virtuous,  he  is  mor- 
ally dead  5  in  order  then  to  live,  he  must  be  born  again,  that  is  to  say,  he 
must  receive  a  new  moral  life.  He  needs  two  things,  pardon  and  sanctifi- 
cation.  The  bestowment  of  these  by  the  gospel  is  surely  nothing  less 
than  "  a  new  creation."  T. 


194  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY. 

of  his  love,  confiding  in  God,  whose  goodness  knows  no 
change ;  in  a  word,  conquered  by  gratitude,  he  is  seized 
with  a  desire  to  do  every  thing  for  Him  who  hath  first 
loved  him,  and  given  himself  for  him.  "  He  loveth  much, 
because  he  is  forgiven  much."  Will  he  neglect  the 
law  ?  On  the  contrary,  it  will  become  to  him  more  dear 
and  sacred.  But  he  will  observe  it  in  another  spirit, — as 
the  law  of  love,  as  the  law  of  a  Father  and  a  Saviour.  He 
will  acknowledge  that  it  is  perfect,  that  it  is  sweeter  than 
honey,  that  it  restores  the  soul.  He  will  delight  in  it  after 
the  inward  man.  He  will  practise  it,  doubtless  from  a 
sense  of  obligation,  but  also  from  taste,  from  inclination, 
soon  even  from  instinct ;  and  he  will  observe  it  more  and 
more,  as  it  becomes  dearer  to  his  heart  by  the  good  fruits 
which  it  brings  forth.  It  will  no  longer  be  necessary  to 
say  to  him,  In  the  name  of  your  eternal  interests,  in  the 
name  of  the  terrors  of  the  judgment,  do  this  and  live ;  be- 
cause his  eternal  interests  have  been  provided  for,  and  the 
sentence  which  condemns  him  has  been  nailed  to  the  cross. 
But  it  will  be  said  to  him,  "  Walk  in  good  works,  for  which 
ye  were  created  in  Christ  Jesus.  Ye  are  bought  with  a 
price,  therefore  glorify  God  in  your  bodies,  and  in  your 
spirits  which  are  his ;"  or,  as  the  apostle  says  in  another 
place,  "  I  beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye 
present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice  unto  God,  holy  and 
acceptable,  which  is  your  reasonable  service." 

Doubtless,  this  fullness  of  confidence,  this  victorious 
assurance,  is  not  imparted,  in  the  same  degree,  to  all  Chris- 
tians ;  and  if  many  possess  it  in  the  first  moment  of  their 
conversion,  others  arrive  at  it  only  by  a  slow  and  laborious 
progress,  while  others,  all  their  life  long,  rejoice  with  trem- 
bling. But  observe  two  things  particularly ;  in  the  first 
place,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  view  of  all  those  to  whom  it 
has  been  given  to  believe  in  the  merciful  sacrifice  of  the 
Saviour,  God  is  love.  They  know,  they  feel  that  they  are 


THE  PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY.  195 

loved ;  they  see  that  the  designs  of  God  respecting  them 
are  salvation  and  peace ;  and  this  conviction  which  reveals 
to  their  mind  another  God  than  is  known  to  the  world,  also 
inspires  them  with  other  dispositions  than  those  of  the 
world.  They  love  that  God  who  has  loved  them  person- 
ally and  tenderly;  and  thus  it  is  that  love  becomes  the 
principle  of  their  moral  life.  Secondly,  the  gospel,  by 
incessantly  declaring  that  their  works  cannot  save  them,  by 
impelling  them  continually  towards  the  idea  of  a  gratuitous 
salvation,  for  ever  urges  them  towards  divine  love,  and  forces 
all  their  thoughts  to  concentrate  on  that  great  object, — the 
compassion  of  the  Saviour.  With  these  persuasions,  with 
this  constant  direction  of  the  mind,  it  is  impossible  that  the 
life  should  not  become  a  life  according  to  God.  These 
Christians,  then,  do  not  form  an  exception  to  the  position 
we  have  laid  down.  But  this  is  not  all. 

Sincere  faith  is,  in  reality,  full  of  hope.  The  individual 
who  firmly  believes  that  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant  has 
been  shed  for  him,  cannot  be  persuaded  that  He  who  has 
enabled  him  to  believe,  hath  bestowed  a  gift  illusory  and 
vain.  He  cannot  deny  to  himself  the  faithfulness  of  God. 
And  if  sometimes  the  ineffaceable  conviction  of  his  own 
unworthiness,  the  consideration  of  that  law  of  the  flesh  in 
his  members  which  fights  against  the  law  of  the  spirit,  the 
view  of  so  many  deplorable  infidelities  in  the  bosom  even 
of  the  church  may,  for  a  moment,  obscure  his  hope,  these 
very  things  make  him  recur  with  redoubled  fervor  to  Him, 
who,  finding  nothing  in  us  to  make  us  acceptable  in  his 
sight,  has  been  willing  to  save  us  through  the  faith  which 
he  has  given.  Do  not  imperatively  demand  from  that 
Christian  soul  the  triumphant  assurance  which  the  Lord 
has  not  made  the  privilege  of  all  believers.  He  has  it  not, 
perhaps;  but  he  loves;  he  has  renounced  all  merit;  he 
expects  nothing  from  himself,  but  every  thing  from  his 
Father.  I  ask  you,  if  he  has  not  complied  with  the  terms 


196  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN    MORALITY. 

of  the  gospel  ?  I  ask  you,  when  he  obeys  from  love,  with- 
out hope  in  himself,  without  mercenary  and  sordid  views, 
if  that  principle  of  Christian  morality,  the  superiority  of 
which  we  have  endeavored  to  establish,  is  a  stranger  to 
him,  and  if  the  occasional  shadows  which  becloud  his 
hope,  in  any  measure  detract  from  the  system  we  have 
developed. 

True,  the  gospel  speaks  of  a  recompense,  a  reward,  a 
crown.  Here  is  only  one  truth ;  but  it  may  have  two 
aspects.  It  is  quite  evident  that  faith  produces  love,  that 
love  produces  obedience,  and  an  obedience  which  makes  no 
calculation.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  the  works  of  such 
an  obedience  are  good  works ;  that  such  works  lead  to 
happiness  as  a  necessary  consequence ;  that  God  has  not 
desired,  and  cannot  desire  the  restoration  of  man  with- 
out the  design  of  rendering  him  happy ;  and  that,  in  this 
view,  the  gospel  has  been  able,  in  God's  name,  to  speak  of 
a  recompense  and  a  crown.  Thus,  then,  we  find  in  the 
same  truth,  two  ideas,  not  contradictory,  but  correlative ; 
faith  given  as  a  grace,  and  the  fruits  of  faith  as  a  recom- 
pense ;  the  believer  not  laboring  for  a  recompense,  but  God 
treating  him  as  if  he  owed  him  something ;  salvation  pre- 
ceding obedience,  since  the  cross,  the  means  of  salvation 
has  preceded  the  works  of  the  believer,  and  in  another  sense, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  order  of  time,  obedience  preceding 
salvation,  since  ihefull  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  promised 
to  the  believer  does  not  commence  till  after  he  has  finished 
his  work.  There  is,  then,  no  contradiction,  but  mutual 
correspondence  between  the  diverse  declarations  of  the 
New  Testament ;  and  all  the  passages  which  it  contains 
respecting  the  rewards  of  the  faithful,  cannot  shake  its 
great,  its  vital  principle,  namely,  that  obedience  is  the  fruit 
of  salvation,  and  that  the  believer  obeys,  not  that  he  may 
be  saved,  but  because  he  is  already  saved.  Besides,  what 
need  have  we  to  confirm  all  these  ideas,  when  the  facts 


THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY.  197 

utter  a  language  so  clear  ?  Seek  among  all  men  who  make 
a  profession  of  Christianity,  those  to  whom  Christianity  is 
real,  vital,  efficacious,  those  who  have  received  the  gospel 
in  earnest,  and  apply  it  with  fidelity  in  their  life,  and  ask 
them,  in  view  of  their  good  works,  what  is  the  principle  of 
these  works  ;  and  there  is  not  one  of  them  but  will  answer, 
I  obey  because  I  love ;  I  love  because  God  has  pardoned  me. 

Even  if  the  common  morality,  that,  I  mean,  which  rejects 
the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  should  succeed  in  pro- 
ducing the  same  effects,  the  same  works  as  the  evangelical 
morality,  the  latter  would  no  less  possess  a  striking  char- 
acter of  superiority ;  for,  as  a  modern  writer  has  judiciously 
remarked,  virtue  in  the  one,  is  but  the  means;  in  the  other, 
it  is  the  end.  In  the  one,  God  is  served  as  a  means  of 
happiness ;  in  the  other,  he  is  adored  for  himself.  In  the 
one,  we  cannot  free  ourselves  from  mercenary  views  ;  in  the 
other,  we  obey  only  from  a  pure  and  generous  impulse.  In 
the  one,  it  is  servile  fear ;  in  the  other,  filial  reverence. 
"  Having  such  promises,  dearly  beloved,  let  us  perfect 
holiness  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord."  In  the  one,  there  is 
self-interest,  and  consequently  bondage ;  in  the  other,  all  is 
love,  that  is  to  say,  freedom. 

After  these  reflections,  it  will  be  easy  for  you  to  appre- 
ciate the  criticism  which  we  referred  to  at  the  beginning  of 
this  discourse.  You  can  judge  if  that  is  an  immoral  doc- 
trine, which  teaches  that  all  our  efforts  cannot  secure  our 
salvation,  and  that  nothing  can  be  done  to  merit  it.  You 
know  now  that  this  doctrine  is  that  of  love ;  and  of  love  in 
two  senses  at  once,  of  a  merciful  love  on  the  part  of  God, 
of  a  grateful  love  on  the  part  of  man.  It  is  not  a  bargain, 
but  a  free  covenant  between  God  who  has  loved  us  first, 
and  us  who  love  him  on  account  of  his  very  love.  What ! 
is  duty  less  sacred  to  us  because  we  love  him  who  imposes 
it  ?  What!  is  the  law  the  less  acknowledged  by  us  the  more 
we  acknowledge  him  who  has  given  it?  What!  do  we 
17 


198  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY. 

hate  sin  less,  because  its  expiation  lias  cost  the  purest  blood 
in  the  universe  ? .  What !  shall  we  feel  ourselves  under  less 
obligation  to  obey,  because  we  cannot  estimate  all  the  im- 
mensity of  the  Father's  love?  Is  a  doctrine,  which  doubles 
the  weight  of  all  duties,  the  force  of  all  precepts,  the  pres- 
sure of  all  motives,  an  immoral  doctrine  ?•  Is  it  not  rather, 
as  we  said  at  the  beginning,  the  best,  the  only  good 
morality  ? 

That  the  grace  of  God  may  be  turned  into  licentiousness 
we  are  not  anxious  to  deny.  That  such  an  insult  to  the 
majesty  of  God,  to  the  majesty  of  divine  charity,  transcends 
all  other  baseness,  every  one  will  acknowledge.  On  this 
account  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  greatest  manifestation 
of  the  goodness  of  God  has  given  occasion  to  the  greatest 
manifestation  of  the  wickedness  of  man.  If  God  had  found 
it  necessary  to  prescribe  the  use  of  no  other  means  than 
such  as  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  us  to  abuse,  we 
might  not  have  fallen  so  low,  that  every  thing  reveals  it,  or 
rather  we  might  not  have  fallen  at  all.  The  effects  we  have 
described  we  have  presented  as  natural,  and  doubtless  they 
are  such,  but  not  as  certain  in  themselves  ;  the  will  of  God 
and  the  grace  of  his  Spirit  alone  secure  them.  It  is  true, 
then,  that  many  have  abused  them,  and  that  many  will 
abuse  them ;  but  those  who  abuse  them  do  so  to  their 
destruction,  while  those  who  use  them,  do  so  to  their  un- 
speakable benefit.  The  latter  have  reasoned  well,  concluded 
well ;  the  former  have  made  a  deplorable  mistake  ;  and  in 
every  case  what  cuts  off  all  difficulty  is,  that  while  a  small 
number  only  have  accepted  and  fully  understood  grace, 
natural  morality  has  never  saved  a  single  person,  because 
it  cannot  regenerate  him;  while  the  dispensation  we  have 
explained,  is  the  only  one  which  has  proved  its  efficacy  to 
save  the  soul.  That  which  changes  the  heart,  which 
causes  it  to  be  born  to  a  new  life,  which  invests  all  obliga- 


THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY.  199 

tions  with  a  sacred  authority,  and  transfers  a  religious 
character  even  to  the  slightest  duties,  which,  in  fine,  ele- 
vates morality  to  the  region  of  the  absolute  and  the  perfect, 
is  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel,  and  that  alone.  How  far, 
then,  how  infinitely  far  from  truth  and  justice,  are  those 
who  charge  with  immorality  the  doctrine  we  exhibit. 

That  doctrine  which  has  been  described  to  us  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  as  a  shocking  paradox,  is  the  same  as 
that  professed  by  all  true  Christians  since  Jesus  Christ.  It 
is  the  morality  of  St.  Paul  and  of  St.  John,  of  Fenelon  and 
of  Pascal,  of  Newton  and  of  Oberlin, — it  is  Christian 
morality.  Salvation  by  faith  is  spoken  of  in  your  churches, 
and  you  receive  that  expression.  Very  well !  this  morality 
is  nothing  else  than  salvation  by  faith,  or  the  recovery  of 
the  soul,  by  trust  in  the  divine  compassion ;  arid  how  far 
will  not  this  make  the  doctrine  go  back  into  the  past? 
Under  the  ancient  covenant,  believers  among  the  Jews 
already  lived  by  this  faith  in  the  gratuitous  mercy  of  the 
Lord.  Ascending  from  one  generation  to  another,  you  see 
them  all  drink  of  the  water  of  this  spiritual  rock,  which  is 
Christ;  you  see  Moses  prefer  the  reproach  of  Christ  to  all 
the  treasures  of  Egypt ;  you  see  this  divine  promise  throw 
its  pure  and  consoling  light  upon  the  mournful  path  of  our 
first  parents  going  forth  from  the  shades  of  Paradise.  This 
is  the  morality  for  which,  during  four  thousand  years,  God 
prepared  sick  and  fallen  humanity;  the  morality  whose 
majestic  foundations,  so  long  prepared  in  darkness,  the 
death  of  Christ  has  brought  forth  into  the  light ;  the  mo- 
rality of  all  future  time  ;  in  a  word,  the  morality  of  human- 
ity, which  can  sustain  no  other.  O,  if  there  is  one  among 
you,  whom  prejudices,  like  those  which  have  given  rise  to 
this  discourse,  still  keep  far  away  from  the  gospel,  we  con- 
jure him  to  study  the  system  of  the  gospel,  and  after  having 
admired  its  beauty,  consistency  and  harmony,  let  him  ask 


200  THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    CHRISTIAN   MORALITY. 

himself  the  question,  if  it  is  possible  for  man  to  invent 
it?  Let  him  ask  himself,  if  there  is  not  here  more  than  a 
system;  if  there  is  not  a  fact,  vast  and  divine,  the  greatest 
in  the  entire  history  of  the  universe  ?  Let  the  cross  become 
to  him  a  reality,  Jesus  Christ  a  Saviour,  the  gospel  good 
news,  an  authentic  message  from  Heaven ;  and  let  him 
adopt  this  morality,  alone  worthy  of  God,  alone  adapted  to 
our  wants,  and  alone  capable  of  regenerating  our  souls. 


XIII. 


NECESSITY  OF  BECOMING  CHILDREN. 

"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  be  converted,  and  "become  as  little 
children,  ye  shall  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." — MATT.  18  :  3. 

I  HAVE  sought,  my  dear  hearers,  in  the  preceding  dis- 
courses, to  render  Christianity  acceptable  to  your  reason ; 
I  have  constantly  attached  the  chain  of  my  arguments  to 
the  immutable  principles  of  nature.  I  have  appealed  from 
yourselves  to  yourselves.  I  have  thus,  as  it  were,  erected 
a  tribunal  before  which  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
appeared  to  be  judged.  What  I  have  done,  was,  in  my 
judgment,  permitted  to  me.  Preaching  ought  always  to  set 
out  from  a  point  admitted  by  all,  in  order  to  arrive  at  one 
which  is  not ;  with  men  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  sets  out  from  the  declarations  of  the  gospel  itself; 
with  those  who  are  not  thus  convinced,  it  must  set  out  from 
a  point  further  back,  a  point  which  can  be  nothing  else 
than  some  one  of  those  convictions  which  are  common  to 
all  our  hearers,  imparted  by  nature,  or  acquired  by  study. 
We  have  no  regret,  then,  at  the  course  we  have  followed ; 
but  we  acknowledge  that  the  attitude  in  which  we  have 
been  forced  to  place  Christianity,  shall  we  venture  to  say 
17* 


202  NECESSITY   OF   BECOMING    CHILDREN. 

it,  of  being  accused  by  you,  and  defended  by  us,  is  not  such 
as  we  should  have  preferred ;  and  we  have  not  teen  able 
to  conceal  from  ourselves  the  danger  both  to  you  and  to  us, 
almost  inseparable  from  such  a  method.  By  continually 
invoking  the  testimony  of  your  reason,  we  had  to  fear  in- 
flating that  very  reason  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  of  giving 
to  the  Christian  revelation  a  false  air  of  philosophical 
system  and  theory.  We  may  also  have  given  some  occa- 
sion to  believe  that  the  work  of  conversion  to  Christianity, 
is  accomplished  entirely  by  human  means ;  that  one  be- 
comes a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ  in  no  other  way,  than  he 
becomes  a  disciple  of  Plato ;  that  in  this  marvellous  trans- 
formation, reason  and  philosophy  accomplishes  the  whole  ; 
in  a  word,  that  the  proud  thinker  could  make  that  long  and 
important  transition  from  the  world  to  Christianity,  without 
losing  any  thing,  or  yielding  any  thing  on  the  way. 

It  is  this  impression  which  we  shall  now  endeavor  to 
destroy,  if  we  have  permitted  it  to  be  formed  in  you. 
Christianity,  which  has  seen  us  patiently  defending  its 
rights  before  our  petty  tribunal,  must,  from  this  moment, 
assume  the  accent  which  becomes  it,  and  dissipate  the  illu- 
sions you  may  have  formed  touching  its  position  and  your 
own.  Have  you  thought,  perhaps,  that  it  sought  nothing 
but  your  adherence,  and,  too  well  satisfied  with  having 
gained  it,  would  leave  you  at  rest,  as  after  an  affair  amica- 
bly settled  between  it  and  you  ?  Have  you  thought,  by 
declaring  its  pretensions  acceptable,  by  pronouncing,  so  to 
speak,  its  sentence  of  acquittal,  you  had  done  all  that  it 
required,  and  that  its  relations  to  you  would  continue  on 
the  same  footing  of  equality  on  which  they  commenced  ? 
Assuredly  you  were  greatly  deceived.  It  must  by  no  means, 
be  concluded  that  you  are  converted,  because  you  have 
yielded  to  the  historical,  the  moral,  or  the  philosophical 
evidence,  with  which  it  is  irradiated  in  every  part.  That 
work,  to  take  it  in  its  true  nature,  is  not  even  begun ;  all 


NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING    CHILDREN.  203 

* 

that  we  have  said,  and  all  that  you  have  believed,  is  scarce- 
ly a  preface  to  it ;  you  have  not  yet  read  a  single  syllable 
of  the  book  itself.  The  road  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  has 
been  pointed  out  to  you ;  but  you  have  not  entered  that 
kingdom.  Such  as  you  are  naturally,  you  cannot  enter  it, 
for,  says  the  Master  himself  to  you,  "  Except  ye  be  con- 
verted, and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

Remember  the  reply  of  Archimedes  to  the  tyrant  of 
Sicily,  who  grew  impatient  with  the  slowness  of  his  method 
or  the  difficulty  of  his  theorems,  "  There  is  no  royal  road 
to  science."  With  greater  reason,  we  say  the  same  to  you, 
respecting  our  subject.  Christianity  does  not  offer,  does 
not  know,  any  privileged  road.  I  acknowledge,  that  so 
long  as  you  make  inquiry  touching  the  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian revelation,  the  nature  of  these  preliminary  investiga- 
tions is  such  as  to  leave  undisturbed  the  sentiment  of  your 
independence  and  your  dignity.  This  part  of  the  route  is 
wide ;  it  has  room  for  all  your  pretensions.  Here  you  can 
enlarge  and  expatiate  at  your  ease,  and  occupy  it  entirely 
with  the  sumptuous  array  of  your  science.  But  this  road, 
however  wide,  terminates  for  you,  and  for  every  one,  at  a 
gate  so  strait  and  low,  that  far  from  being  able  to  pass  it, 
with  all  your  magnificence,  you  cannot  even  enter  it,  except 
on  condition  of  lessening  yourselves,  and  exchanging,  so  to 
speak,  the  stature  of  a  full-grown  man,  for  that  of  a  little 
child.  "  Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little 
children,  ye  shall  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Is  this  the  same  as  saying,  that  at  the  decisive  moment 
on  which  depends  an  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
man  is  called  upon  to  abandon  his  reason,  to  regard  as  null 
and  void  all  the  knowledge  he  has  acquired,  and  that  the 
childhood,  which  is  made  a  condition  of  his  admission,  is 
nothing  but  ignorance  and  stupidity?  Those  who  can 
believe  this,  forget  that  the  New  Testament  every  where 


204  NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING    CHILDREN. 

supposes  the  contrary,  and  that  the  Christian  religion  in- 
cludes in  itself  the  richest  source  of  intellectual  develop- 
ment. They  forget  that  from  the  very  first  it  has  rendered 
popular  the  loftiest  ideas ;  that  the  apostles  were  not  afraid 
to  say  to  men  already  converted,  "  We  speak  as  unto  wise 
men ;"  and  that  in  one  of  the  epistles  is  found  this  remark- 
able antithesis,  "  Be  not  children  in  understanding ;  how- 
beit  in  malice  be  ye  children,  but  in  understanding  be  men." 
1  Cor.  14 :  20.  A  man  in  reason, — a  child  in  heart, — such 
must  the  Christian  be ;  such  is  the  disposition  with  which 
every  one  must  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  I  suppose 
you  to  have  the  first ;  have  you  the  second  ? 

So  long  as  you  were  only  examining,  in  the  pride  of 
your  reason,  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  its  records  and 
its  testimonies,  every  thing  was  allowed  you  which  is  al- 
lowed to  full-grown  men  ;  you  were  required  to  be  nothing" 
else.  But  when,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  independent 
researches,  your  conviction  has  bound  you  to  the  doctrine 
of  Christ ;  when  by  any  means,  you  have  acquired  assur- 
ance that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners, 
of  which  each  of  you  may  well  say,  he  is  chief;  when,  to 
take  a  particular  case,  that  great  thinker,  that  subtle  genius, 
that  learned  man,  has  ascertained  that  he  has  been  picked 
up  in  the  highways  of  the  world,  as  an  abandoned  child, 
without  protection,  without  clothing  and  food,  without 
power  to  proceed  on  his  way,  or  even  voice  to  inquire  the 
road,  will  it  become  him  to  affect  the  airs  of  a  being  of  im- 
portance ?  And  will  he  not  be  bound  to  confess  himself  a 
child,  let  himself  be  treated  as  such,  become  such  in 
reality  ? 

What,  then,  in  the  eyes  of  God,  is  he  whom  the  world 
honors  as  a  wise  man  ?  What  is  he  but  an  ignorant  one  ? 
What  he  that  is  strong  among  men,  but  weakness  itself? 
What  he  that  is  intelligent,  but  a  fool  ?  What  he  that  is 
rich,  but  a  pauper  ?  Even  if  he  should  have  discovered 


NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING   CHILDREN.  205 

new  heavens,  or  founded  an  empire  on  the  earth,  what  is 
he  in  the  eyes  of  God  but  a  madman  who  has  forgotten  the 
first  of  truths;  who  is  incapable  of  spelling  the  first  syllable 
of  the  name  with  which  the  heavens  resound,  and  which 
angels  adore  ;  who  cannot  fulfil,  cannot  even  begin  to  fulfil, 
the  first,  the  holiest,  and  the  simplest  of  his  duties,  and 
who  with  all  his  knowledge  of  nature,  estranges  himself  so 
far  even  from  nature,  that  he  adores  what  he  ought  to 
despise,  and  despises  what  he  ought  to  adore ! 

That  which  a  little  child  is,  with  reference  to  the  knowl- 
edge which  such  a  man  possesses,  he  is  himself  with 
reference  to  the  knowledge  of  God.  But  that  which 
a  child  has,  he  has  not.  The  child  has,  for  all  power,  the 
consciousness  of  his  feebleness ;  for  all  science,  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  ignorance ;  for  all  wisdom,  the  instinct 
which  carries  him  towards  his  natural  protectors.  The 
man  of  the  world  has  not  this  wisdom.  He  wishes,  unaided 
to  raise  himself  from  the  cradle,  where  he  lies  in  his  weak- 
ness. He  wishes  to  find  the  road  for  himself,  in.  a  region 
of  which  he  is  ignorant.  He  rejects  the  hand  which  is  held 
out  to  sustain  him,  and  ever  pre-occupied  with  his  part  as 
a  full-grown  man,  he  will  not  recollect  that  he  is  only  a 
child. 

This  despotism,  so  natural  and  so  common  among  those 
who  are  destitute  of  Christian  convictions,  is  often  seen 
perpetuated  even  among  those  whose  reason  has  been 
conquered  by  the  gospel.  They  are  ready,  in  their  char- 
acter of  full-grown  men,  to  sign  the  deed  which  acknowl- 
edges the  gospel,  but  they  cannot  persuade  themselves  to 
become  children,  that  is,  to  become  Christians.  It  is  here 
they  encounter  the  great  stone  of  stumbling  which  their 
wisdom  had  not  foreseen.  It  is  here  they  stop  disconcerted, 
as  if  caught  in  a  snare.  It  was  not  with  this  in  prospect 
that  they  embraced  Christianity.  They  were  deceived; 
they  have  been  led  further  than  they  wished  to  go ;  they 


206  NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING    CHILDREN. 

will  not  go  back,  that  is  henceforth  impossible ;  but  neither 
will  they  go  forward. 

They  must  go  forward.  They  must  put  their  heart  in 
harmony  with  their  intellect.  Christianity  is  not  a  system 
out  of  us,  but  a  life  within  us.  Christianity  is  a  renovation 
of  the  soul ;  it  is  nothing  less.  A  Christian  is  not  a  man 
who  has  expelled  from  his  mind  one  theory,  to  give  place 
to  another.  He  is  a  man  humbled ;  who  feels  that  he  can 
live  only  upon  mercy;  who  adores,  who  blesses  that 
mercy ;  who  nourishes  himself  on  the  promises  of  God  as 
his  only  hope;  who  continually  renounces  himself,  and 
devotes  his  life  daily  to  the  Saviour.  He  does  not  live 
himself,  but  his  Saviour  lives  in  him.  And  the  life  which 
he  still  lives  in  the  flesh,  he  lives  by  faith  on  the  Son  of 
God,  who  hath  loved  him. 

It  would  be  very  agreeable,  doubtless,  and  very  flattering 
to  his  self-love,  to  present  himself  to  the  world  as  a  man 
who,  amongst  all  systems,  had  made  his  choice,  and  is 
ready  to  furnish  evidence  of  his  good  judgment,  by  giving 
an  account  of  the  reasons  which  have  led  him  to  embrace 
Christianity  as  a  system  eminently  rational.  But  the 
question  at  issue  is  a  very  different  one  from  that  of  a  mere 
profession.  Look  at  a  child.  He  not  only  does  not  blush 
to  acknowledge  his  father,  but  he  glories  in  it.  It  never 
occurs  to  the  mind  of  that  young  creature  that  the  father 
whom  he  respects  is  not  respected  by  all.  He  places  him 
in  his  estimation  far  above  all  other  men.  He  yields  to 
him  respect  and  obedience  in  every  place.  Even  in  the 
one  where  his  father  is  obliged  to  take  a  humble  attitude, 
he  perceives  not  that  his  father  is  not  to  every  one  what 
he  is  to  him ;  or  did  he  perceive  it,  he  would  be  astonished 
and  afflicted,  and  say  so  in  sufficiently  decisive  tones. 
Ask  from  him  who  is  yet  only  a  philosophical  Christian, 
these  testimonies,  these  acknowledgments,  this  open  and 
honest  profession.  Require  him  to  declare,  without  em- 


NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING   CHILDREN.  207 

barrassment  and  circumlocution,  and  in  all  places  equally, 
his  exclusive  trust  in  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant.  Let 
him  place  himself  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  humble,  poor 
and  wretched.  Let  him,  full  of  love  for  his  father, 
seized  with  admiration  of  that  glorious  goodness,  feeling 
that  nothing  is  great,  nothing  beautiful  by  the  side  of  that 
divine  work,  give  free  expresssion  to  the  emotions  of  his 
heart,  and  speak  of  the  news  of  salvation  as  news  always 
fresh,  always  interesting,  news  to  which  the  attention 
ought  to  be  devoted  by  choice,  in  the  midst  of  all  other 
news.  Ask  for  all  this,  and  you  will  ask  in  vain.  He  has 
not  believed,  in  order  that  he  might  come  to  such  an  issue* 
He  did  not  anticipate  this.  In  truth,  you  astonish  him 
greatly. 

A  little  child  has,  with  reference  to  the  relations  of 
society,  views  more  philosophical  than  any  philosopher. 
To  him  men  are  men.  Custom  does  not,  in  his  view, 
communicate  to  them  any  new  quality.  He  loves  them  if 
they  are  good ;  he  loves  them  if  they  love  his  father.  In 
this  respect,  the  Christian  is  a  child.  He  permits  the 
relations  of  society  to  exist ;  he  accepts  social  distinctions 
for  temporal  use ;  and  frequently  conforms  to  them,  from 
Christian  prudence;  but  his  heart,  internally,  levels  all 
these  distinctions.  Christian  love  is  the  great  leveller. 
He  is  not  afraid  to  treat  all  men  as  brethren ;  for  he  sees 
in  them  the  children  of  his  father ;  and  if  there  be  any  to 
whom  his  heart  yields  a  preference,  they  are  those  who 
love  his  father.  The  differences  of  rank  not  only  do  not 
arrest  his  love,  but  barriers  more  difficult  to  overleap,  those 
which  are  raised  by  difference  of  culture,  intelligence  and 
character,  he  scales  with  equal  ease.  He  has  always 
something  to  say  to  the  simple,  something  to  learn  from 
the  ignorant,  some  sympathy  with  characters  the  most 
diverse  from  his  own.  Neither  weariness  nor  disgust 
accompanies  him  into  society  thus  diversified.  One  great 


208  NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING   CHILDREN. 

common  interest  brings  all  minds  into  harmony.  Here  all 
feel  themselves  equally  learned  and  ignorant,  equally 
foolish  and  wise.  The  differences  which  subsist  in  another 
sphere  are  not  remarked.  They  are,  with  reference  to  the 
final  aim  of  life,  of  but  very  little  importance.  Wherever 
the  Christian  meets  a  Christian,  he  finds  an  equal.  On 
the  contrary,  nothing  is  more  foreign  to  the  Christian  in 
theory.  In  order  to  form  a  common  bond  between  him 
and  the  Christian,  something  more  than  Christianity  is 
needed.  There  must  be,  if  not  equality  of  rank,  at  least 
equality  of  culture.  He  has  nothing  to  say  to  the  unlet- 
tered Christian;  he  feels  ill  at  ease  in  his  company;  he 
dreads  it.  He  must  have  similitude  of  views;  a  difference 
disturbs  him.  He  cannot  raise  himself  above  the  impres- 
sion which  produces  an  opinion  so  little  rational.  He 
cannot  abstract  himself  from  forms,  to  attach  himself  to 
principles,  that  is,  to  Christianity  itself.  He  seeks  equals 
and  fellows,  rather  than  brethren. 

A  little  child  can  do  nothing  of  himself;  but  he  expects 
every  thing, from  his  father.  He  knows  that  he  is  loved 
by  him,  and  that  he  will  refuse  him  nothing  that  is 
necessary.  He  prays.  The  life  of  a  little  child  is  a 
prayer.  What  reason  has  man  to  think  and  to  act  in  the 
same  way?  But  to  pray,  says  the  wise  man,  to  pray! 
That  is  not  natural  to  my  heart.  Every  thing,  indeed, 
which  can  be  said  of  prayer,  I  know  and  hold  for  truth. 
But  in  spite  of  that,  I  do  not  feel  inclined  to  it.  It  appears 
as  if  it  were  something  foreign  to  me,  an  affair  of  another. 
I  seem  to  myself  so  singular  in  prayer,  as  if  I  were  doing 
something  learnt  or  copied.  Had  I  thought  of  all  this,  in 
becoming  a  Christian  ? 

A  little  child  believes  what  his  father  tells  him.  It  is 
his  father !  Does  he  not  know  all  that  a  child  needs  to 
know;  and  would  he  deceive  him ?  This  amiable  instinct 
is  the  instinct  of  a  Christian.  He  knows  what  his  father 


NECESSITY   OF    BECOMING   CHILDREN.  209 

has  spoken ;  that  is  enough  for  him.  He  will  not  submit 
to  the  control  of  human  wisdom  the  authentic  communica- 
tions of  divine  wisdom.  After  having  believed  that  the 
gospel  is  from  God,  he  will  believe  what  the  gospel  says. 
The  Christian  in  theory  is  followed  by  the  pride  of  reason 
even  into  the  enclosure  at  the  gates  of  which  it  ought  to 
have  stopped.  He  still  wishes  to  judge,  to  choose,  to  adapt 
to  his  use,  to  prescribe  to  God  what  God  ought  to  say,  to 
reform  the  axioms  of  revealed  truth,  to  re-make  the  Bible, 
after  having  accepted  it.  Do  you  speak  to  him  of  submis- 
sion? Do  you  remind  him  that  he  has  promised  it,  and  that, 
at  least,  he  ought  to  leave  those  mysteries  undisturbed, 
whose  inviolability  he  had  previously  acknowledged?  His 
reason,  accustomed  to  enter  every  where,  is  surprised  that 
any  door  should  be  shut  upon  it;  he  had  never  estimated 
the  extent  of  his  engagements.  He  begins  to  be  vexed;  and 
feeling  at  once  the  impossibility  of  receding  or  advancing, 
impelled  by  pride,  retained  by  fear,  he  remains  immovable 
and  inactive,  on  the  precise  limit  which  separates  Chris- 
tianity from  the  world. 

The  passage  from  knowledge  to  possession,  from  belief 
to  life,  our  Lord  has  strikingly  represented  by  the  figure, 
so  singular  at  first  sight,  of  a  return  from  mature  age  to 
childhood.  While  in  the  world,  the  preceptor  says  to  the 
child,  Come,  act  like  a  man,  Jesus  Christ,  our  divine 
Teacher,  says  to  the  man,  Act  like  a  child.  Be  in  heart, 
with  relation  to  God  and  your  fellow-men,  what  a  little 
child  is  with  reference  to  his  father,  and  all  the  persons  by 
whom  he  is  surrounded.  The  infancy  of  the  heart  is  the 
trait  which  distinguishes  the  Christian  in  fact,  from  the 
Christian  in  theory.  But  that  infancy  of  the  heart,  what  is 
it  but  humility  ?  What  distinguishes  a  child  from  a  man, 
if  it  is  not  a  sort  of  natural  humility  ?  It  is  humility,  then, 
which  draws  the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  Christian 
who  believes,  and  the  Christian  who  lives.  It  is  humility, 
18 


210  NECESSITY   OF   BECOMING   CHILDREN. 

then,  which  is  wanting  to  the  former,  and  which  it  remains 
for  him  to  acquire,  in  order  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Let  us  here  explain  ourselves  thoroughly,  and  not  give 
you  occasion  to  suppose  that  one  virtue  is  more  than 
another  the  condition  of  salvation.  Jesus  Christ  has  only 
desired  us  to  understand,  that  his  religion  is  of  such  a 
nature,  that  if  any  one  will  not  consent  to  humble  himself, 
he  cannot  be  his  disciple.  He  might  equally  have  said  that 
no  one  can  be  such,  unless  he  love.  He  has  said  so,  and 
his  disciples  have  repeated  it.  But  humility  itself  is  a  proof 
that  one  loves  ;  he  who  loves  has  no  difficulty  in  humbling 
himself;  he  who  does  not  humble  himself,  does  not  love. 
He  who  can  see  the  Son  of  God  descend  to  the  earth,  par- 
take of  our  sufferings,  degrade  himself  to  the  rank  of  a 
malefactor,  and  drink  opprobrium  like  water,  that  he,  a  sin- 
ner, may  enjoy  eternal  life  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father;  he 
who  sees  this,  and  believes  it,  and  still  imagines  that  the 
disciple  is  more  than  his  Master,  and  the  servant  more  than 
his  Lord ;  he  who  cannot  persuade  himself  to  drink  one 
drop  of  the  cup  which  Jesus  has  drained ;  he  who  cannot 
lay  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  his  frivolous  pretensions,  his 
independence  of  spirit,  his  confidence  in  himself,  his  petty 
glory,  his  vanity;  he  who  pretends  to  rest  upon  a  throne  in 
the  presence  of  Jesus  bound  to  the  stake  of  infamy,  unques- 
tionably does  not  love.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  he  who  is 
not  affected  by  such  devotion,  who  can  believe  in  Christ, 
without  loving  him,  whose  heart  does  not  permit  itself  to 
be  caught  in  the  snare  of  mercy,  he  doubtless  is  not  hum- 
bled. Principles  which  take  each  other's  places  by  turns, 
love  and  humility,  cannot  exist  separately  in  the  soul.  Go 
down  into  its  depths,  and  you  will  find  them  united  there, 
blended  in  a  single  sentiment,  whose  different  qualities  are 
developed  together,  by  the  same  emotion,  and  the  same 
virtue. 

But  if  reason  tells  us  that  the  gospel  is  of  such  a  nature 


NECESSITY   OF   BECOMING   CHILDREN.  211 

that  we  cannot  receive  it  in  deed  and  in  truth,  without 
becoming  children,  reason  can  do  nothing  more.  It  aban- 
dons us  in  this  affair,  as  in  others,  at  the  point  where  the 
true  difficulty  begins.  Reason  is  not  the  efficient  cause  of 
any  of  the  emotions  which  spring  up  within  us.  All  that 
it  can  do  is  to  conduct  us  into  the  presence  of  facts;  then 
it  retires,  and  leaves  the  facts  to  affect  and  modify  us.  It 
is  thus  that  it  places  us  in  the  presence  of  the  fact  of 
redemption,  a  fact  which  includes  this  singularity,  that 
however  well  fitted  it  may  appear  by  its  nature  to  touch  our 
hearts,  it  yet  meets  there  the  most  formidable  obstacles.  In 
theory,  we  say  to  ourselves,  that  in  this  fact  every  thing  is 
so  combined  as  to  move  the  heart ;  in  practice,  it  would 
appear  as  if  it  were  only  fitted  to  revolt  it.  Thus  the  gos- 
pel does  not  ascribe  to  our  natural  faculties  the  power  to 
believe  in  it,  and  appropriate  it  to  ourselves.  "  No  one  can 
believe,"  it  says  to  us,  "  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  but 
by  the  Holy  Spirit;"  which  doubtless  means,  that  no  one 
can,  without  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  indue  himself  with 
the  dispositions  of  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ.  No  one, 
to  speak  after  the  manner  of  our  text,  can  enter  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  except  he  be  converted,  and  become  a  little 
child. 

Hence  this  transformation  into  infancy  does  not  even 
belong  to  you.  All  that  you  can  find  in  yourselves  is  the 
conviction  that,  proud  and  independent  by  nature,  you  must 
ask  God  to  break  down  that  haughtiness,  to  reduce  you  to 
the  measure  of  little  children,  to  give  you  their  hearts. 
And  it  is  not  you,  learned  men,  and  men  of  genius  alone, 
who  need  to  ask  this.  Your  pride  does  not  surpass  that  of 
other  men,  as  your  talents  surpass  theirs.  They  too,  in 
their  mediocrity,  are  haughty  and  proud,  for  they  are  men; 
humble  and  modest,  perhaps,  with  relation  to  men,  haughty 
and  proud  with  reference  to  God.  Their  reason  makes  no 
less  pretensions  than  yours ;  their  dignity  is  not  less  exact- 


212  NECESSITY    OF    BECOMING   CHILDREN. 

ing ;  it  costs  them  as  much  to  abase  themselves,  as  if,  like 
you,  they  had  their  heads  in  the  clouds.  To  be  children, 
little  children,  to  walk  wherever  they  are  led,  unable  to  quit 
the  hand  which  guides  them,  to  depend  on  the  divine  mercy 
for  the  supply  of  their  daily  wants,  to  associate  with  the 
humble,  to  be  seen  in  the  company  of  little  ones,  to  put 
themselves  on  equality  with  the  poor  in  spirit, — what 
abasement,  what  disgrace !  Happy,  however,  they  who 
have  accepted  that  disgrace,  and  covered  themselves  with 
it !  The  shame  of  earth  is  the  glory  of  heaven.  If  it  yet 
shocks  you,  if  you  are  not  yet  pleased  to  become  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  know  that,  notwithstanding  your  professions, 
you  are  not  yet  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  you  are  on  the 
threshold  of  a  door  open  to  your  inspection,  but  forbidden  to 
your  entrance.  You  must  beseech  God  to  break  to  pieces 
your  pride,  by  giving  you  a  lively  consciousness  of  your 
sinful  state,  a  profound  view  of  your  misery,  an  implacable 
hatred  of  yourselves,  such  as  sin  has  made  you,  and  a  sol- 
emn conviction  of  your  danger.  Tell  him  to  cast  you 
down,  to  put  you  so  low  in  your  own  esteem,  that  you  may 
feel  yourselves  but  too  happy  to  be  born  again  simple  chil- 
dren, under  the  paternal  hand.  Then,  not  only  will  the 
religious  convictions  you  have  acquired  profit  you,  but  they 
will  no  longer  be  a  burden,  a  care,  an  importunate  thought, 
too  oppressive,  wherever  you  may  drag  it.  They  will  con- 
stitute the  foundation  of  your  peace,  the  source  of  your 
happiness,  a  life  in  your  life,  a  life  in  your  death,  your  hope 
in  time,  your  glory  in  eternity. 


XIV. 

THE  CLAIMS  OF  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH 
ADJUSTED. 

"Set  your  affection  on  things   above,  not  on  tilings  on  tlie  earth." 
COL.  3:2. 

THIS  precept,  and  a  multitude  of  analogous  declarations 
spread  through  the  Scriptures,  are  a  subject  of  offence  to 
many  readers.  They  see  in  them  the  providence  of  God 
contradicted  by  his  word.  It  is  God  himself  that  has 
placed  us  on  the  earth,  and  it  is  he  who  wills  that  all  our 
thoughts  should  be  in  heaven.  It  is  God  who  has  placed 
us,  by  our  bodies,  our  wants  and  our  faculties,  in  a  close 
and  necessary  relation  with  the  world;  yet  it  is  he  who 
wishes  to  bind  our  hearts  to  eternity,  by  indestructible  ties. 
It  is  he  who  admits  of  no  division,  no  compromise,  and 
proposes  to  us  the  choice  between  heaven  and  earth,  as  a 
choice  between  life  and  death. 

Ought  it  to  surprise  us,  say  superficial  readers  of  the 
New  Testament,  that,  pressed  between  two  opposing 
necessities,  we  should  decide,  after  some  uncertainty, 
either  to  throw  our  whole  life  into  the  future,  or  lose  it 
entirely  in  the  present?  If  some  minds,  struck  with  the 
18* 


214  CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

instability  of  the  world,  hasten  to  flee  from  under  the  roof 
of  a  ruinous  edifice,  retire  into  the  profound  solitude  of 
their  own  thoughts,  concentrate  themselves  upon  a  single 
idea,  that  of  eternity,  and  renounce  the  activity  of  social 
life,  in  order  to  consecrate  themselves  entirely  to  the  care 
of  their  salvation ;  while  others,  abandoned  to  the  influence 
of  external  impressions,  spirits  fickle,  active,  curious,  gov- 
erned by  the  instinct  of  sociability,  and  the  charm  of  life, 
engage,  body  and  soul,  in  the  bustle  of  human  affairs,  and 
do  not  permit  a  single  thought  to  escape  towards  the 
invisible  world,  and  the  things  of  eternity,  we  once  more 
inquire,  ought  we  to  be  astonished  at  it? 

Alas,  no,  it  is  not  surprising.  We  need  not  be  aston- 
ished to  see  the  false  reason  of  man  corrupt  and  bend  to 
its  liking  the  simple  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  But  if  we 
embrace  the  whole  of  its  teachings,  we  shall  really  find 
nothing  in  the  gospel  which  tends,  even  in  the  slightest 
degree,  to  the  separation  or  divorce  of  our  two  lives,  to  the 
mutilation  of  our  double  nature.  We  are  not  taught  there, 
that  God,  in  giving  us  the  gospel,  intended  violently  to 
rend  our  nature,  and  to  place  in  competition  two  necessi- 
ties, equally  imperious.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  persuad- 
ed, while  reading  that  divine  book,  that  God  has  been 
pleased  to  establish  in  our  life  a  perfect  and  unalterable 
unity,  to  form  of  the  two  principles  of  which  man  is  com- 
posed, a  single  being;  not  to  destroy  one  activity  for  the 
benefit  of  the  other,  but  to  give  to  both  one  aim,  and  to  the 
whole  life  a  single  significance;  not  to  kill,  but  to  regen- 
erate man. 

The  anchorite  of  ancient  times,  the  partially  enlightened 
believer,  who,  in  our  day,  would  bring  back  the  life  of  the 
anchorite,  both  misapprehend  the  design  of  God.  If 
Christian  perfection  had  required  their  retirement  from 
this  world,  God  would  have  made  for  them  a  separate 
world,  where  the  wants  of  the  body,  the  necessities  of 


CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED.  215 

physical  existence,  and  the  engagements  of  society  would 
never  have  disturbed  the  current  of  their  serene  contempla- 
tions. God  has  not"  made  such  a  world.  By  invincible 
ties  has  he  bound  them  to  the  world  of  sense,  and  the 
relations  of  society.  He  has  compelled  them  to  labor  for 
their  fellow-creatures,  and  their  fellow-creatures  for  them. 
And  no  less  has  he  demanded  that  they  should  labor  for 
their  salvation. 

Indeed,  our  situation  would  be  favorable,  and  our  task 
easy,  if  it  were  only  necessary  to  leave  society,  in  order  to 
find  God:  if  God  did  not  permit  us  to  breathe  the  dust  of 
the  arena,  or  to  hear  the  noise  of  combat;  if  we  could 
triumph  without  having  fought;  if  religion  consisted  not 
in  overcoming  temptations,  but  in  encountering  none;  if  it 
were  permitted  us,  in  order  to  become  saints,  to  cease  to 
be  men ;  and  if  we  could  cast  far  away  from  us  the  nolle 
burden  of  humanity^  as  a  great  orator,  in  ancient  times, 
expressed  himself.* 

*  There  was  a  celebrated  people  of  antiquity  (the  Spartans),  a  part  of 
whom  had  succeeded  in  subjugating  the  other,  and  causing  them  to  accept 
the  severest  laws.  The  conquered  and  the  conquerors  continued  to 
occupy  the  same  soil,  and  to  form,  as  it  were,  q.  single  people.  But  the 
difference  of  their  respective  positions  showed  itself  in  the  difference  of 
their  employments.  The  conquerors  aimed  to  arrive,  as  a  people,  at  an 
ideal  and  unexampled  perfection.  Consequently  military  exercises,  the 
strictest  order,  privations  the  most  painful,  became  the  foundation  of  their 
life.  None  of  the  members  of  this  association  were  permitted  to  go 
beyond  the  bounds  of  the  republic,  nor  was  a  stranger  allowed  to  penetrate 
within  that  sacred  territory.  It  might  be  called  a  military  monastery, 
subjected  to  the  strictest  rules.  But  as  it  was  necessary,  after  all,  in  the 
midst  of  this  sublime  discipline,  to  live,  the  vanquished  race  were  charged 
with  providing  for  this.  On  them  was  imposed  the  vulgar,  but  indispensa- 
ble task  of  cultivating  the  earth,  of  exercising  trades,  in  a  word,  of  supply- 
ing all  the  material  wants,  which  even  the  loftiest  spirits  cannot  hinder 
themselves  from  feeling.  Thus,  on  the  one  side,  improvement,  on  the 
other,  labor ;  on  the  one,  intellectual  and  moral  life,  on  the  other, 
material  life  and  mechanical  employments;  on  the  one,  a  polity  almost 
become  a  species  of  religion,  on  the  other,  industry  without  liberty,  and 
very  nearly  without  thought.  Such  was  the  organization  of  that  strange 


216  CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

That  the  world,  in  its  actual  constitution,  has  its  tempta- 
tions, its  dangers,  and  its  snares,  we  are  not  permitted  to 
doubt.  That  it  is  wise  to  shun  dissipation,  to  avoid  even 
useless  agitations,  to  seek,  as  much  as  may  be,  the  repose 
of  a  retired  life,  there  to  refresh  the  soul,  and  very,  fre- 
quently to  enter  the  closet  in  order  to  examine  ourselves 
before  God,  are  maxims  with  which  it  is  important  to  be 
thoroughly  penetrated.  The  peaceful  uniformity  of  the 
pastoral  life  did  not  excuse  Abraham  from  seeking  a  place 
favorable  to  prayer,  under  the  shade  of  the  oaks  of 
Marnre.  How  often  did  our  Saviour  himself  retire  to  the 
mountain  in  order  to  elevate  his  pure  spirit  to  his  Father 
and  ours.  But  in  the  same  degree  that  these  precautions 
are  conformed  to  Christian  wisdom,  so  is  the  idea  chimeri- 
cal, that  all  that  we  have  to  do  to  flee  from  the  world,  is  to 
avoid  contact  with  society. 

Vain  hope !  in  the  heart  of  deserts,  and  in  the  deepest 

people.  This  state  of  things  is  a  feeble  image ;  still  it  is  an  image  of  the 
system  we  oppose.  In  fact,  this  system  divides  mankind  into  two  classes, 
two  communities  5  the  first  of  whom  save  their  souls  by  withdrawing  from 
the  obligations  of  society,  while  the  others  destroy  their  souls  by  submit- 
ting to  them.  The  former  seek  the  food  which  endureth  to  life  eternal, 
the  latter  ruin  themselves  by  seeking  the  food  that  perisheth.  And,  final- 
ly, what  is  not  only  strange,  but  abominable,  the  one  class  labor,  at  the 
expense  of  their  salvation,  that  the  other  may  be  at  liberty  to  secure  it; 
for  in  the  end  it  comes  to  this.  However  spiritual  some  may  be,  they 
have  bodies,  temporal  interests,  and  families.  They  need  the  products  of 
nature  to  feed  them,  the  products  of  art  to  clothe  them,  laws  to  live  in 
peace,  and  a  government  to  protect  them  j  and  all  these  wants,  reducing 
them  only  to  strict  necessity,  suppose  a  development  of  knowledge, — a 
mass  of  studies,  of  which  it  is  difficult,  at  first  sight,  to  form  an  idea.  The 
possession  of  so  much  of  these  gross  and  absolutely  necessary  commodities 
as  would  be  sufficient  to  render  the  return  of  famine  impossible,  attaches 
itself,  as  all  will  admit,  to  the  highest  speculations  of  science,  and  to  the 
most  ingenious  inventions  of  the  arts.  So  that,  since  it  is  impossible  to 
live  without  food,  without  clothing  and  laws,  it  would  be  absolutely  nec- 
essary, in  the  system  under  consideration,  that  one  part  of  the  human 
family  must  destroy  their  souls  in  order  to  secure  the  existence  of  those 
which  are  saved. 


CLAIMS    OF   HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED.  217 

solitudes  we  may  yet  find  the  world.  It  is  not  met  with 
altogether  in  the  hurry  of  business  or  in  the  agitations  of 
society.  It  lies  in  the  depths  of  our  heart.  The  world 
consists  of  our  passions,  which  solitude  does  not  extinguish, 
and  to  which  it  sometimes  lends  fresh  energy.  All  the 
evils  and  troubles  of  life  do  not  come,  to  borrow  the 
expression  of  a  great  philosopher,  "  from  not  being  able  to 
remain  in  our  chamber."  They  come  from  our  not  being 
able  to  escape  from  our  natural  corruption ;  a  corruption 
which  follows  us  to  the  recesses  of  forests  and  of  deserts, 
as  it  accompanies  us  into  the  streets  and  squares  of  our 
cities;  whilst,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  complicated  and 
difficult  business,  in  the  anxiety  even  of  high  functions,  the 
Christian  finds  in  his  heart  a  solitude,  a  tranquil  world,  a 
retreat  more  inaccessible  than  that  of  his  closet,  where  he 
lives  by  his  soul,  while  his  body  is  given  to  a  thousand 
cares,  where  his  spirit  peacefully  composes  itself,  even 
when  his  person  seems  to  be  diffused  and  dissipated. 
Many  a  hermit  lives  in  the  world ;  many  a  man  of  the 
world  lives  in  solitude. 

To  renounce  the  necessities  of  our  earthly  sojourn,  to 
regard  all  temporal  activity  as  perdition,  is  to  insult  the 
wisdom  of  God,  which  has  imposed  them  upon  us.  What ! 
could  he  create  a  world,  the  necessary  effect  of  which 
would  be  to  abuse  himself  ?  What !  are  nature,  society, 
labor,  the  institutions  of  his  providence,  so  many  things  he 
has  cursed?  On  the  contrary,  is  not  the  world,  in  the 
variety  of  its  aspects  and  movements,  a  temple,  all  the  parts 
of  which  are  destined  for  his  glory  ?  What !  do  idleness, 
apathy,  isolation,  uselessness,  alone  honor  him  ?  Far  from 
us  be  such  a  thought !  It  is  not  by  remaining  motionless 
in  the  heavens,  that  the  stars  celebrate  his  greatness  and 
power,  but  by  revolving  swiftly  in  their  immense  orbits ; 
and  it  is  from  our  activity,  from  the  free  and  extensive 
development  of  our  powers,  that  God  has  been  pleased  to 
derive  a  part  of  his  glory. 


218  CLAIMS    OF   HEAVEN    AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

There  are  dangers  in  social  life  !  Certainly,  I  believe 
it ;  they  are  such  as  to  make  us  tremble.  But  God  is 
doubtless  not  ignorant  of  this  ;  it  is  not  certainly  for  noth- 
ing that  he  has  promised  his  Holy  Spirit ;  or  that  Jesus  has 
said  to  his  disciples,  "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  afflictions; 
but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world."  Since 
it  has  pleased  God  to  place  us  in  these  formidable  relations, 
can  we  doubt  that  his  grace  provides  for  the  exigences 
which  are  his  work  ?  To  believe  otherwise ,  would  be  to 
call  in  question  the  goodness,  and  perhaps  the  justice  of 
God. 

Ties  of  family  and  of  country,  culture  of  arts  and  of 
knowledge,  industrial  and  social  activity,  ye  are  the  indis- 
pensable conditions  of  our  existence;  ye  are  the  road  through 
which  we  must  pass ;  but  ye  are  not  the  end  of  our  being. 
That  end  is  heaven.  But  the  error  lies  in  confounding  the 
road  with  the  end,  the  means  with  the  result.  The  error 
lies  in  attaching  ourselves  to  earth,  which  is  the  road,  not 
to  heaven,  which  is  the  end. 

This  distinction  is  conformed  to  our  text.  It  does  not 
say,  Do  not  occupy  yourselves  with  the  things  of  the  earth ; 
but,  Do  not  set  your  affections  on  the  things  of  the  earth. 
Act  as  travellers  who  give  to  their  business  all  requisite 
attention,  but  are  in  haste  to  return  to  their  native  land. 
Act, — but  for  heaven  ;  labor, — but  for  God. 

Labor  for  God ;  because  it  is  your  vocation,  primitive 
and  unchangeable,  your  supreme  duty,  the  first  and  last 
end  of  your  existence.  Alas  !  of  all  ideas,  the  most  absurd 
is  the  most  diffused.  As  if  we  existed  by  ourselves,  we 
live  for  ourselves !  Creatures  dependent  at  every  point  of 
our  existence,  we  have  made  ourselves  our  own  law,  and 
our  own  object!  Committing  sacrilege  every  day,  we 
conceal  ourselves  from  our  Creator !  Oh !  it  is  this  that 
marks,  even  in  noble  spirits,  the  profound  and  general 
depravity  of  the  human  race.  This  is  the  seal  of  our 


CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN   AND    EARTH   ADJUSTED.  219 

reprobation,  that  we  have  forgotten  why  and  for  what  we 
were  sent  into  the  world.  All  evil  comes  from  this ;  and 
each  particular  sin  disappears  in  this  great  and  primal  sin. 
Christians  !  I  adjure  you,  by  your  very  name, — live  for  him 
who  has  loved  you.  He  had  infinite  rights  over  us  as  our 
Creator,  but,  by  a  miracle  of  love,  he  has  added  infinite  to 
infinite.  He  has  consented  that  righteous  blood  should 
flow  for  you.  He  has  given  up  to  the  pangs  of  death, 
Him,  in  whom  his  own  holiness  was  reflected,  as  in  the 
purest  mirror.  At  the  intercession  of  his  Son,  his  wrath 
was  turned  away  from  you,  to  fall  on  that  Son  himself; 
Christ  became  sin,  that  your  sins  might  be  forgotten.  And 
now,  thanks  be  to  him,  ye  may  enter,  creatures  degraded 
and  defiled,  race  adulterous  and  dishonored !  ye  may  enter, 
"with  everlasting  joy  on  your  heads,"  into  the  house  of 
your  celestial  bridegroom,  to  adorn  yourselves  anew  with 
his  glorious  name,  and  to  partake  with  angels  in  a  destiny 
of  honor  and  peace.  After  this,  is  it  necessary  to  say  to 
you,  Christians,  labor  for  God ;  attach  yourselves  to  things 
above  ?  Ah  !  if  the  name  you  bear  has  not  told  you  all 
this  already,  all  the  words  in  the  world  will  tell  you 
nothing. 

Work  for  God,  set  your  affection  on  things  above ;  because 
such  an  activity  is  the  only  one  which  offers  to  your  ener- 
gies an  employment  worthy  of  them.  By  acting  only  with 
reference  to  the  world,  what  use  can  you  make  of  those 
powers  really  proportioned  to  them  ?  Whatever  you  do,  you 
will  always  fall  below  your  capacity,  and  a  whole  world 
thrown  into  your  soul  would  not  fill  its  abyss.  You  may 
fill  up  your  time,  by  attaching  a  work  to  each  of  your  hours, 
but  would  it  fill  up  life,  thus  to  fill  up  its  time  ?  Life  !  Is 
it  only  a  dimension  ?  Is  it  merely  a  line  without  breadth, 
a  chain  which  you  must  only  take  care  to  have  unbroken? 
When  every  hour  of  a  long  life  has  been  marked  by  an 


220  CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN    AND    EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

employment  or  a  thought,  does  it  follow  thence  that  you  have 
lived  ?  O  immortal  beings,  creatures,  of  God !  life  consists 
in  the  employment  of  all  your  powers;  and  you  have  divine 
powers.  Life  consists  in  the  fulfilment  of  your  destiny ; 
and  your  destiny  is  heaven !  Do  not  tell  me  you  have 
lived,  you  who  have  a  soul  to  aspire  to  the  infinite,  but 
which  you  have  chained  down  to  finite  objects  ;  a  heart  to 
love  God  whom  you  have  not  loved ;  an  intelligence  to 
serve  Him,  but  whom  you  have  not  served.  You  have 
passed  through  life,  at  the  side  of  those  who  lived,  but  you 
have  not  lived.  To  live,  my  brethren,  is  to  perform  a  work 
which  lasts.  It  is  to  accumulate  something  more  than  vain 
recollections.  It  is  to  convert  all  our  present  life  into  the 
future;  it  is  to  prepare  for  its  death;  it  is  to  make  it,  in 
advance,  triumphant,  glorious,  full  of  immortality.  To 
live,  is  to  act  on  earth  as  a  citizen  of  heaven. 

But,  at  the  close  of  our  course,  to  be  reduced  to  say,  I 
have  labored,  but  have  already  received  all  my  recompense. 
For  a  perishable  work,  I  have  received,  from  the  world, 
a  perishable  reward.  The  world  has  my  labor,  and  keeps 
it.  I  have  received  its  pay,  but  I  cannot  retain  it ;  for  I  am 
about  to  leave  the  world.  I  leave  it,  with  empty  hands, 
with  exhausted  powers,  with  beggared  spirit,  and  withered 
heart.  I  leave  it,  but  I  know  not  whither  I  am  going. 
Alas  !  why  have  I  lived  ?  What  business  had  I  to  live  ? 
Have  I  truly  lived  ?  Is  it  not  a  dream  ?  Was  it,  then,  that 
I  should  consume  myself  for  nothing,  that  I  was  brought 
into  existence  by  my  Creator  ?  Did  I  not  feel  something 
within  me,  greater  than  every  thing  I  have  yet  seen,  every 
thing  I  have  yet  felt,  every  thing  I  have  yet  done  ?  Has 
not  my  soul  urged  me  a  thousand  times,  to  take  my  flight 
above  all  sensible  objects  ?  Yet  what  have  I  done,  but 
to  prostitute  that  soul  to  objects  of  sense,  and  to  every 
thing  which  my  awakened  conscience,  to-day,  calls  vanity  ? 


CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED.  221 

O  deception,  illusion,  misery  !  0  life  lost !  O  spirit  abused, 
dissipated,  degraded  by  vain  thoughts !  O  wretched  past, 
without  hope  for  the  future  ! 

I  say  nothing  of  the  remorse  which  ought  always  to 
crown  a  life  thus  lost,  but  which  does  not  always  crown  it. 
Last  and  painful  blessing,  or  prelude  and  foretaste  of  the 
greatest  pangs,  remorse,  we  know,  does  not  always  assist  at 
that  solemn  and  mournful  review  which  the  worldling  invol- 
untarily takes  of  his  past  life,  when  about  to  die.  Upon 
this  last  and  terrible  subject,  supply  what  I  do  not  say,  and 
which  no  one  can  say  but  feebly.  Represent  to  yourselves 
the  busy  worldling,  arriving,  exhausted  and  panting,  with 
the  long  chain  of  his  miserable  toils,  at  the  foot  of  the 
eternal  tribunal ;  and,  penetrated  with  horror  at  the  picture, 
you  will  no  longer  permit  us  say,  but  you  will  say  your- 
selves, Let  us  labor  for  God ;  let  us  set  our  affections  on 
things  above,  not  on  things  on  the  earth. 

I  am  aware  that  some  may  say  to  us,  "  We  cannot  suita- 
bly care  for  the  things  of  the  earth,  without  taking  some 
interest  in  them.  We  cannot  succeed  in  a  situation  with- 
out a  certain  inclination  for  the  things  of  that  situation,  nor 
in  a  study  without  a  taste  for  it,  nor  in  any  particular  career, 
without  loving  it.  Can  it  be  believed  that  our  interest  in 
heaven  can  take  the  place  of  all  these  other  interests  ?  Can 
it  be  supposed  that  the  mere  sentiment  of  duty  should  sup- 
ply a  sufficient  stimulus  ?  Do  we  not,  on  the  contrary, 
learn  that  the  more  we  are  attached  to  the  things  of  heaven, 
the  less  fitness  have  we  for  the  things  of  earth?  What 
then  becomes  of  that  boasted  harmony  of  which  you 
speak." 

The  objection  has  weight;  and  I  wish  no  one  to  conceal 
from  himself  its  force.  It  is  certain  that  if  we  confined 
ourselves  to  contrasting  two  duties,  that  of  being  occupied 
assiduously  with  the  things  of  earth,  and  that  of  loving  only 
the  things  of  heaven,  we  should  only  augment,  instead  of 
19 


222  CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN   AND    EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

removing,  the  difficulty.  But  with  a  little  attention,  you 
will,  I  hope,  see  that  the  objection  rests  on  an  error.  It 
consists  in  taking  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  the  things 
above,"  in  a  too  spiritual  sense.  The  things  above  are  not 
precisely  those  of  another  world,  but  those  of  another 
sphere  than  the  habitual  one  of  our  thoughts.  They  are 
not  the  things  above  our  heads,  but  those  which  are  above 
our  natural  sentiments.  The  things  on  high  are  here  below, 
if  we  wish  it ;  the  things  on  high  are  the  dispositions  of  a 
heart  renewed  by  the  Spirit  from  above  ;  they  are  all  those 
sentiments,  motives,  impulses,  which  belong  to  a  regenera- 
ted soul.  To  set  our  affection  on  things  above,  is  to  set  our 
affection  on  God  himself;  it  is  to  subordinate  our  life  to 
him ;  it  is  to  seek  and  find  God  in  every  thing. 

And  what  shall  hinder  any  of  you  from  finding  Him  in 
nature,  the  secrets  of  which  you  study  with  so  much  per- 
severance ;  in  the  functions  you  fulfil  with  so  much  inter- 
est ;  in  that  art  you  cultivate  with  so.  much  ardor  ?  Why ! 
Is  not  God  in  all  that  is  true,  beautiful,  great,  useful  ?  Is 
he  not  in  every  thing,  except  evil  ?  Is  not  every  thing 
which  is  good  only  himself?  And  in  cultivating  the  differ- 
ent domains  of  nature,  of  art,  and  of  civil  life,  is  it  not  God 
himself  with  which  the  Christian  is  occupied;  and  in  each 
of  the  things  that  interest  him,  is  it  not  God  also  whom  he 
admires  and  loves? 

Loving  God,  then,  is  the  secret  which  reconciles  all. 
This  is  the  secret  of  being  occupied,  with  interest,  in  the 
things  of  earth,  without  ceasing  to  love  the  things  of  heaven. 
To  love  God  is  to  love  the  life  he  has  made,  and  the  death 
he  has  ordained.  But,  ye  divided  hearts,  who  have  dreamed 
of  a  compromise  between  heaven  and  earth,  and  have 
appeared  incessantly  tormented  with  fears  and  scruples, 
now  know  the  cause  of  your  condition ;  ye  fear  God,  but  ye 
do  not  love  him.  Piety,  doubtless,  also  has  its  scruples  ; 
but  let  us  take  care  not  to  confound  the  scruples  of  a  deli- 


CLAIMS   OF    HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED.  223 

cate  love,  which  is  afraid  of  not  giving  every  thing  to  its 
object,  with  the  apprehensions  of  a  selfish  heart,  which  is 
destitute  of  the  courage  to  do  one  of  two  things,  either  to 
give  itself  wholly  to  God,  or  wholly  to  the  world.  "  Is  this 
permitted;  is  this  not  permitted?  Is  this  worldly;  is  this 
Christian?  May  we  see  such  society,  form  such  an  enter- 
prise, devote  ourselves  to  such  study  ?"  This,  in  the  mouth 
of  a  son,  signifies,  How  shall  I  keep  my  heart  for  my 
father  ?  But,  in  the  mouth  of  a  slave,  How  far  can  I  follow 
the  desires  of  my  heart,  without  irritating  my  master  ? 
Miserable  and  vain  discussions,  the  principle  of  which  it  is 
easy  to  discover.  What  is  this  perpetual  bargaining  be- 
tween man  and  God?  What  sort  of  a  Christian  is  he  who 
is  perpetually  occupied  in  minutely  adjusting  God's  part 
and  his  own,  and  ever  filled  with  the  dread  of  making  his 
own  too  little  ?  What  sort  of  a  believer  is  he  who  pretends 
to  divide  himself  into  two,  the  worldling  and  the  believer, 
as  if  there  was  no  absolute  necessity  that  the  worldling 
should  be  altogether  a  worldling,  and  the  believer  altogether 
a  believer?  What  kind  of  a  man  is  he  who  has  two  hearts, 
the  one  for  the  world,  the  other  for  God?  What  kind  of 
devotion  is  that  which  makes  its  own  conditions,  which 
keeps  its  reserved  rights,  which  stipulates  its  indemnities  ? 
O,  love  is  a  better  casuist.  Love  has  speedily  cut  the 
difficulty ;  every  thing  for  God,  nothing  for  self,  is  its  motto. 
Every  thing  for  God,  provided  God  is  mine.  Then  let  him 
enrich  or  impoverish  my  life,  let  him  extend  or  limit  my 
activity,  let  him  gratify  or  oppose  my  tastes ;  if  I  have  my 
God,  I  have  all  things  at  once.  It  is  him  I  wish  to  serve, 
him  I  wish  to  please ;  the  rest  is  a  matter  of  indifference. 
If  you  love  God,  you  will  easily  and  at  once  see  what 
employments  are  incompatible  with  his  service.  The  love 
of  God  will  endow  you  with  a  new  sense,  with  a  sure  and 
delicate  tact,  by  means  of  which  you  will  recognize  without 
difficulty,  the  works  which  please,  and  those  that  displease 


224  CLAIMS    OF   HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

him ;  for  all  kinds  of  activity  are  not  good.  This  is  the 
first  effect  of  the  love  of  God.  There  is  another.  It  gives 
to  the  soul  very  great  freedom.  It  renders  legitimate  a 
multitude  of  works,  which  could  not  be  such  without  it.  If 
you  love  God,  you  can  enter  into  the  bustle  of  the  world, 
into  the  business  of  public  life,  into  the  culture  of  the  arts 
and  sciences ;  for  all  this  you  do  for  the  glory  of  God,  with 
gratitude  and  submission  ;  all  this  leads  you  to  God,  instead 
of  taking  you  far  from  Him ;  and,  if  I  may  say  so,  your 
courses  which,  in  appearance,  are  the  most  adventurous, 
never  remove  you  far  from  port.  The  most  elevated  func- 
tions, and  lowest  offices,  the  greatest  enterprises,  and  the 
most  petty  details,  the  work  of  a  year,  and  the  work  of  an 
hour,  all  are  done  for  the  Lord ;  consequently,  all  are  per- 
mitted, all  are  good.  But  beyond  this  sphere,  and  without 
this  direction,  all  is  bad,  even  that  which  generally  passes 
for  legitimate  and  praiseworthy ;  all  is  bad,  for  God  is  not 
in  it.  You  can  still  be  useful,  merit  and  obtain  esteem ; 
but  with  reference  to  God,  to  yourselves,  to  eternity,  you 
have  done  a  work,  vain,  ungrateful,  and  wretched. 

Ill-instructed  casuists,  whose  delicacy  "  strains  out  the 
gnat,  and  swallows  the  camel,"  abandon,  abandon  the  idle 
scruples  which  attach  to  some  isolated  actions,  to  some 
particular  details  of  your  life,  and  at  once  bring  into  ques- 
tion your  entire  life.  It  is  of  that  life  as  a  whole,  of  its 
general  character,  of  the  spirit  which  animates  it,  which  it 
concerns  you,  before  all,  to  form  an  estimate.  It  is  not 
some  good  works,  it  is  not  a  factitious  virtue,  laboriously 
studied,  and  laboriously  imitated,  which  will  prepare  you 
for  heaven.  It  is  not  upon;  this  or  that  observance  neg- 
lected or  performed,  upon  such  an  action  permitted  or 
forbidden,  or  in  itself  indifferent,  that  the  chances  of  your 
eternity  will  turn.  Doubtless  each  of  your  actions  has  its 
moral  value,  its  character,  its  color ;  but  each,  also,  is  but 
the  natural  product  of  a  principle,  and  in  this  respect  has  a 


CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN    AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED.  225 

character  which,  rather  than  its  own,  represents  your  moral 
value.  It  is  this  internal  value  which  you  must  know  ;  it 
is  this  also  which  God  knows,  and  according  to  which  he 
will  appreciate  and  judge  you.  Do  you  know  the  standard 
by  which  he  will  do  this  ?  He  will  measure  you  by  your 
love  to  him.  He  will  inquire  only  about  one  thing,  Are 
you  his,  by  your  heart  ?  But  his  standard  ought  to  be 
yours ;  and  in  this  question, — Am  I  acting  for  God  ;  is  it  my 
desire  to  do  his  will  ? — ought  all  your  casuistry  to  be  con- 
tained. 

See  then,  what  wind  fills  your  sails,  and  you  will  know 
whither  you  are  going.  Demand  of  yourselves  an  account 
of  the  sentiment  which  controls  your  life,  and  you  will 
know  what  it  is  worth.  Every  one  is  able  upon  this  point 
to  give  a  precise  answer ;  besides,  here  are  two  tests,  the 
application  of  which  will  leave  you  no  further  uncertainty. 

In  the  midst  of  the  occupations  and  the  cares  which 
necessarily  bind  you  to  the  earth,  do  you  love  to  occupy 
yourselves  with  the  things  of  heaven  ?  Have  you  a  relish 
for  the  word  of  God  ?  Are  you  pleased  to  consult  it,  to 
elevate,  by  its  means,  the  point  of  view  from  which  you 
regard  all  your  affairs,  to  stretch,  as  it  were,  over  the  limited 
horizon  of  your  terrestrial  life,  the  boundless  horizon  of 
eternity  ?  Many,  when  they  involuntarily  bring  these  two 
views  together,  find  no  relation,  no  harmony  between  them, 
but  rather,  a  sort  of  contrariety.  The  aspect  of  heaven, 
and  of  divine  things,  disturbs  them  in  their  labors ;  it  de- 
ranges and  disenchants  them ;  it  vexes  and  oppresses  them. 
They  could  wish  they  had  never  cast  their  eyes  in  that 
direction  ;  for  that  of  which  they  had  a  glimpse  has  made 
them  fear,  for  a  moment,  that  their  life,  which  hitherto  ap- 
peared filled  up  so  well,  is,  in  fact,  filled  up  with  vanity. 
Thenceforward,  they  shun  this  view,  and  these  reflections ; 
and,  in  order  to  protect  their  labors  from  such  painful  con- 
trol, plunge  themselves  wholly  in  the  present.  In  propor- 
19* 


226  CLAIMS   OF   HEAVEN   AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

tion  as  that  vision  of  divine  things  is  weakened  and  effaced, 
they  speedily  resume  their  former  ardor  ;  but  they  are  not 
active  and  persevering  in  the  things  of  their  profession, 
except  on  condition  of  caring  as  little  as  possible  for  their 
heavenly  vocation.  And  yet  they  do  not  profess  to  re- 
nounce that  heavenly  vocation.  They  are  entirely  satisfied 
to  have  in  reserve  an  asylum  and  place  of  repose ;  resem- 
bling in  this  the  prodigal  son,  wandering  in  the  highways 
of  the  world,  it  pleases  them  now  and  then,  to  think  of 
their  Father's  house,  but  not  to  dwell  there.  They  are 
pleased  to  believe ;  they  would  dread  to  lose  their  religious 
conviction ;  but  they  dread  still  more  to  see  it  become  too 
strong.  They  fear  those  unexpected  moments,  brought  on 
by  God  himself,  when  the  truth  of  religion  suddenly  ap- 
pears all  radiant  with  evidence,  and  all  powerful  with  real- 
ity. They  dread  that  tyranny  of  a  living  faith,  which  would 
overturn  their  life,  disconcert  their  plans,  give  another 
course  to  their  activity,  and  destroy  the  position  they  have 
assumed  in  the  world.  Frightened  at  that  lightning,  they 
hasten  to  shut  their  eyes,  and,  by  a  strange  contradiction, 
dread  both  their  skepticism  and  their  faith.  Brethren,  do 
such  people  labor  for  the  earth,  or  for  heaven  ? 

I  have  spoken  of  another  touchstone.  It  is  the  thought 
of  death.  Let  any  one  who  doubts  as  to  the  legitimacy  of 
his  efforts,  and  the  employment  of  his  life,  place  himself  in 
the  presence  of  death.  Let  him,  with  closed  eyes,  consider 
his  last  hour,  that  hour,  when,  as  it  has  been  said  with  pro- 
priety, "  There  remains  nothing  with  us,  but  what  we  have 
given."  Let  him  for  a  moment  feel,  that  he  no  longer 
belongs  to  the  earth,  that  he  lies  upon  his  funeral  bed,  that 
he  listens  to  that  solemn  warning,  "  Son  of  man,  return, 
give  an  account  of  thy  stewardship."  Let  him  say  to  him- 
self, that  in  a  few  hours,  lying  under  the  ground,  he  will 
be  as  much  a  stranger  to  what  occurs  six  feet  above  him,  as 
if  he  had  never  formed  a  part  in  the  number  of  the  living. 


CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN    AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED.  227 

Let  him  see  vanishing,  and  becoming  extinct,  the  splendor 
of  renown,  and  the  power  of  reputation,  his  personal  influ- 
ence, his  property,  his  name  and  his  memory ;  and  pro- 
ceeding to  his  last  inventory,  let  him  take  account  of  what 
remains  to  him,  that  is,  I  repeat  it,  of  what  he  has  given. 
Well,  has  this  activity,  these  labors  and  services,  this  for- 
tune, or  this  poverty,  been  given,  as  it  might  be  wished, 
wholly  to  God  ?  Has  he  performed  works  which  can  follow 
him  ?  Can  he  take  with  him  into  the  other  world,  and  lay 
down  at  the  feet  of  his  Master,  all  his  labors,  all  his  studies, 
all  his  life  ?  Was  it  for  God  that  he  used  his  position, 
fulfilled  his  charge,  cultivated  his  mind,  increased  his  for- 
tune ?  On  which  side  was  his  life,  apparent  in  the  world, 
or  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  Is  he  about  to  be  separated 
from  every  thing,  or  is  he  about  to  find  every  thing  ?  Is  he 
going  to  die,  or  is  he  going  to  live  ?  If  in  the  presence  of 
this  solemn  thought  of  death,  he  does  not  feel  his  past  life 
a  burden,  which  oppresses  him,  but  as  wealth  which  sup- 
ports him  ;  if  the  thought  of  the  activity  which  is  about  to 
be  interrupted  does  not  inspire  him  with  regret,  but  with 
hope,  then  that  activity  is  good ;  he  may  yield  himself  to  it 
without  fear ;  for,  in  occupying  himself  with  the  things  of 
earth,  he  labors  for  those  of  heaven. 

This,  my  brethren,  is  what  we  would  impress  upon  your 
mind,  and  upon  our  own.  No  truth  is  more  important.  A 
moment  will  infallibly  come,  when  it  will  appear  evident 
to  us ;  but  we  ought  to  anticipate  that  moment ;  for  the 
same  truth  which  is  salutary  to-day,  may  be  overwhelming 
to-morrow.  Salutary  while  life  yet  belongs  to  us,  over- 
whelming when  that  life  is  leaving  us.  If,  then,  our  life 
needs  to  be  reformed,  let  us  reform  it ;  that  is  to  say,  let 
us  reform  our  hearts,  "  For  out  of  the  heart  proceed  the 
springs  of  life." 

Reform  our  hearts  !  what  an  expression,  my  brethren ! 
Ah !  when  the  dead  in  their  tombs  shall  be  heard  crying 


22S  CLAIMS    OF    HEAVEN    AND   EARTH   ADJUSTED. 

out,  We  live,  it  will  be  permitted  to  sinful  men  also,  to  cry 
out,  We  reform  our  hearts.  To  love  God  above  all  other 
things,  to  love  nothing  but  in  subordination  to  Him,  to  sub- 
mit our  life  to  a  single  principle,  and  our  conduct  to  a  single 
impulse,  can  this  be  done  by  a  simple  act  of  our  will  ?  Up- 
on this  point,  let  us  consult  our  own  experience.  It  declares 
to  us  our  profound  incapacity  to  displace,  by  ourselves,  the 
centre  of  our  life.  Consult  the  experience  of  believers. 
They  inform  us,  that  it  is  by  faith  in  a  crucified,  glorified 
Saviour,  that  they  have  found  the  power  to  do  it.  Consult 
the  New  Testament.  It  teaches  us  that  in  this  great  work, 
"  it  is  God  that  produces  in  us  the  will,  and  the  execution, 
according  to  his  good  pleasure."  Let  us  not  seek  to  deceive 
ourselves ;  let  us  not  boast  some  external  reforms,  of  which 
we  have  found  ourselves  capable ;  the  reformation  of  our 
habits  is  nothing,  without  the  reformation  of  our  heart.  Let 
us  frankly  acknowledge  our  weakness ;  let  us  ask,  let  us 
entreat,  let  us  pray  without  ceasing,  till  assistance  come, 
till  our  heart  is  altogether  where  our  treasure  is;  till. we 
are  one  in  thought  and  affection  with  Jesus,  till  we  have, 
in  our  life,  but  one  aim,  the  service  and  glory  of  the  Father 
who  sent  him.  May  the  Lord  shed  upon  us  all  his  spirit 
of  grace  and  supplication  ! 


XV. 

THE  PURSUIT  OE  HUMAN  GLORY  INCOMPAT- 
IBLE WITH  FAITH. 

"How  can  ye  "believe,  who  receive  honor  one   of  another,  and  seek 
not  the  honor  which  cometh  from.  God  only  ?  " — JOHN  5 :  44. 

GLORY  !  how  beautiful  is  that  word !  How  many  hearts 
it  has  caused  to  leap !  Is  there  one  who,  in  all  possible 
cases,  can  hear  it  or  utter  it,  without  emotion  !  Primitive 
and  indestructible  tendency  of  human  nature,  the  love  of 
glory  lives  in  all  hearts,  is  found  in  all  conditions,  occupies 
a  place  in  all  enterprises,  and  may  be  compared  to  that 
wind,  loved  by  mariners,  without  which  the  oar  and  the 
paddle  would  in  vain  fatigue  a  waveless  sea. 

Ask  honest  men,  endeavor  to  reach  the  bottom  of  con- 
sciences more  concealed,  you  will  learn  what  power  the 
presence,  the  expectation,  the  name  even  of  glory  exert 
over  all  those  who  are  animated  apparently  by  other 
motives.  In  the  efforts  of  the  patriot,  the  devotion  of  the 
hero,  the  perseverance  of  the  philanthropist,  the  ardor  of 
the  philosopher,  nay  more,  in  the  speculations  of  the  man 
of  business,  the  love  of  glory  has  almost  always  a  place, 
and  very  often  the  first  place. 


230  THE    PURSUIT    OF    HUMAN    GLORY 

"  What ! "  exclaims  that  poor  and  obscure  artizan,  his 
brow  all  covered  with  the  sweat  of  labor,  "  what !  I  pretend 
to  glory !  You  may  assure  yourself  I  never  cared  for  it." 
Yes,  perhaps,  when  obliged  to  devote  yourself  entirely  to 
the  care  of  your  subsistence,  you  had  no  thought  but  for 
the  first  necessities  of  life.  Then  that  indestructible  love  of 
glory  slept  in  your  bosom.  But  the  first  wants  appeased, 
how  prompt  it  will  be  to  awake  !  Do  not  deceive  yourself. 
What  is  called  glory  among  heroes,  politicians  and  men  of 
genius,  will,  under  another  name,  become  one  of  your 
principal  motives  of  action.  What  are  the  pleasures  you 
expect  from  that  money  which  your  industry  accumulates  ? 
Ease,  do  you  say,  security,  material  advantages  ?  It  may 
be  so,  but  to  be  honest,  you  still  count  among  these  the 
pleasure  of  passing  for  a  rich  man,  and  of  securing  that 
kind  of  consideration  which  is  not  easily  refused  to  wealth. 
This,  then,  is  glory. 

There  is  in  every  soul  an  imperious  want,  a  violent 
desire  to  add  to  its  individual  life,  a  foreign  life,  if  I  may 
say  so,  a  life  beyond  itself,  the  seat  of  which  is  in  the 
opinions  of  others.  To  be  praised,  admired,  or  at  least, 
esteemed,  is  the  secret  desire  of  every  human  being  whom 
misery  does  not  compel  to  degrade  himself  to  a  lower 
ambition,  and  whom  a  profound  degradation  has  not  ren- 
dered insensible  to  the  opinion  of  his  fellows.  We  have, 
indeed,  already  within  ourselves  a  judge,  who  is  very 
indulgent  with  reference  to  OUT  qualities  and  conduct ;  but 
this  judge  does  not  suffice  us.  It  appears  that,  irresistibly 
driven  to  the  sentiment  of  our  nothingness,  and  dreading 
to  be  compelled  some  day  to  undeceive  ourselves,  we  feel 
the  necessity  of  appealing  to  other  men  to  aid  our  self-love, 
and  of  deriving  from  them  an  additional  life,  which  we 
find  not  in  ourselves.  So  true  is  it  that  this  pursuit  is 
derived  from  a  consciousness  of  our  weakness,  that  of  all 
men,  he  who  should  seem  the  proudest,  would  be  a  man 
to  whom,  upon  this  point,  his  own  opinion  was  sufficient. 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  231 

Do  not,  then,  deceive  yourselves.  Rich  or  poor,  high 
or  low,  we  all  love  glory.  This  craving  for  the  esteem  of 
others  follows  us  as  otfr  shadow.  It  glides  with  us  every 
where.  Chased  away  under  one  form,  it  reproduces  itself 
in  another.  From  retreat  to  retreat,  from  corner  to  corner, 
it  eagerly  pursues  its  timid  enemy,  humility.  Does  she 
think  she  has  escaped  from  it,  she  lifts  up  her  eyes  and 
finds  it  before  her.  The  love  of  glory  can  find  a  place 
even  in  the  tears  and  mortifying  confessions  of  penitence. 
It  secretly  animates  the  voice  of  the  moralist  who  thunders 
against  glory;  and  sometimes,  alas,  it  accompanies  into  the 
pulpit  the  preacher  who  condemns  it. 

We  cannot  deny,  that,  in  a  certain  degree,  the  esteem  of 
others  ought  to  be  a  real  want  of  each  individual.  In  the 
first  place,  the  privation  of  this  esteem  would  divest  us  of  a 
greater  part  of  the  advantages  attached  to  the  social  state. 
What  credit  is  to  a  merchant,  good  reputation  is,  in  the 
same  degree,  to  every  member  of  society.  In  the  second 
place,  without  some  mutual  good-will,  society  would  not 
be  supportable,  and  good-will  is  inseparably  connected 
with  esteem.  Besides,  public  confidence  is  the  first  condi- 
tion of  the  good  we  desire  to  do.  To  be  refused  this 
confidence,  would  paralyze  our  best  intentions.  It  is 
necessary,  then,  to  obtain  and  to  keep  it.  All  this  explains 
and  justifies  the  natural  sentiment  which  causes  us  to 
place  a  good  reputation  in  the  number,  and  even  in  the 
first  rank,  of  temporal  blessings.  Under  these  various 
relations,  it  has  a  right  to  the  same  care  which  we  give  to 
our  health ;  it  has  a  right  to  such  care,  more  especially 
because  it  not  only  bears  upon  our  own  welfare,  but  upon 
that  of  our  family.  I  go  even  further;  I  acknowledge 
that,  in  the  absence  of  Christianity,  the  love  of  esteem  is 
one  of  the  best  things  which  can  be  met  with  in  fallen 
man.  In  the  absence  of  an  object  worthy  of  our  homage, 
it  is  an  indirect  homage  to  those  moral  ideas  of  which 


232  THE   PURSUIT   OF   HUMAN   GLORY 

society  cannot  divest  itself,  and  is  the  best  of  those  social 
elements  which  keep  men  united.  But  how  different  from 
this  necessary  care  of  a  temporal  blessing,  for  which  we 
oughr  to  give  thanks  to  God,  as  for  all  others,  is  that  pur- 
suit of  glory,  from  which  we  see  issuing  two  very  clearly 
marked  characteristics.  The  first,  tha£  of  making  the 
esteem  of  men  the  rule  of  our  actions.  The  second,  of 
seeking,  in  addition  to  a  good  reputation,  praise,  fame, 
celebrity.  This  is  what  our  text  condemns ;  the  praise  of 
men  as  an  end  of  our  actions,  their  approbation  preferred 
to  that  of  God,  the  glory  which  comes  from  men  eagerly 
desired,  the  glory  which  comes  from  God  neglected. 

Remark  particularly  that  my  text  does  not  only  say, 
ye  love  to  receive  glory  from  one  another;  it  also  adds,  ye 
seek  not  the  glory  which  cometh  from  God  alone.  The 
glory,  then,  which  comes  from  God  only  is  a  thing  to  be 
sought  after.  The  following  words  of  Jesus  serve  as  a 
supplement  to  those  which  he  uttered  on  another  occasion: 
"  There  is  no  one  who  hath  forsaken  house,  or  brother,  or 
sister,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  children,  for  my  sake  and 
the  gospel's,  who  shall  not  in  the  present  time  receive  a 
hundred  fold."  (Mark  10:  29,  30.)  In  like  manner,  there 
is  no  one  who,  for  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  renounced 
human  glory,  who  shall  not  receive  a  hundred  fold  from 
Him  who  required  the  sacrifice.  In  the  kingdom  of 
God,  then,  there  is  no  sacrifice  without  compensation,  and 
the  compensations  of  God  are  infinite.  In  our  souls,  there 
is  no  want  he  will  not  satisfy,  but  in  his  own  way;  that  is 
to  say,  by  giving  us,  instead  of  the  gross  aliment  which 
our  deluded  hunger  seeks,  a  purer  aliment,  which  it  knows 
not.  We  were  born  for  glory.  Well,  he  invites  us  to 
seek  it.  The  same  invitation  is  abundantly  reproduced  in 
the  gospel.  There,  glory  is  represented  as  an  object 
worthy  of  our  pursuit,  as  the  final  recompense  of  our  toils, 
as  the  price  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  blessings 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  233 

of  heaven  are  offered  to  those  "who,  by  persevering  in 
good  works,  seek  honor,  glory  and  immortality." 

Here,  it  is  no  longer  man  that  praises  man ;  it  is  no  longer 
the  wretched  flattering  the  wretched;  it  is  the  human  soul 
satisfying  itself  with  true  glory  in  the  bosom  of  the  God  of 
glory.  It  is  the  Christian,  expecting  and  obtaining  from 
the  mouth  of  the  only  witness  whose  regard  he  seeks, 
these  noble  and  precious  words,  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things ; 
I  will  advance  thee  to  many  things."  This  is  the  glory 
which  ought  to  be  desired,  which  ought  to  be  the  end  of 
life, — a  glory  we  cannot  dispense  with  without  crime.  It 
is  the  glory  which  cometh  from  God  alone. 

But  as  to  human  glory,  Jesus  Christ  is  so  far  from  au- 
thorizing the  pursuit  of  it,  that  he  declares  it  incompatible 
with  Christian  faith.  "  How  can  ye  believe,"  says  he, 
"  who  love  to  receive  glory  one  from  another,  and  seek  not 
the  glory  that  cometh  from  God  alone." 

Indeed,  this  love  of  human  glory  is  one  of  the  principal 
quicksands  of  Christian  faith.  We  can  more  easily  and 
much  sooner  vanquish  all  other  obstacles.  When  the  soul, 
oppressed  by  the  consciousness  of  its  sins,  and  anxious 
respecting  its  future  destiny,  turns  in  the  direction  of  relig- 
ion, it  meets,  on  its  way,  numerous  enemies  of  its  salvation. 
Proud  reason  is  there  objecting  to  the  obscurity  of  the 
Christian  doctrines,  and  urging  it  to  reject  what  it  cannot 
comprehend.  Indolence  dissuades  it  from  the  conquest  of 
a  kingdom,  "  which  is  taken  by  force,  and  of  which  only 
the  violent  take  possession ;"  and  sensuality  makes  it  afraid 
of  a  chaste  and  austere  life.  But  when  all  these  perfidious 
counsellors  have  been  successively  driven  away,  human 
glory,  more  dangerous  still,  and  more  certain  to  be  heard, 
presents  itself. 

If  to  believe  were  merely  to  recognize  as  true,  certain  facts 
and  doctrines  of  the  gospel ;  if  faith  were  only  an  act  of  the 
20 


234  THE    PURSUIT    OF    HUMAN   GLORY 

mind,  in  which  the  heart  had  no  part,  it  would  doubtless  be 
impossible  to  see  how  the  desire  of  human  glory  could  hin- 
der us  from  believing.  But  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  is 
another  thing ;  it  is  to  receive,  to  choose,  to  embrace  him, 
with  all  those  qualities  which  are  ascribed  to  him  in  the 
gospel.  It  is  to  submit  to  him  our  heart,  our  will,  our  life ; 
in  a  word,  it  is  to  become  the  subject,  the  servant  of  this 
divine  Master.  But  there  is  a  disposition  of  soul  in  which, 
though  the  mind  is  subdued,  the  heart  is  yet  undecided  and 
rebellious.  We  desire  to  believe,  and  cannot ;  or  rather  we 
believe,  and  do  not  believe.  As  to  conviction,  indeed,  we 
are  within  the  exact  terms  of  the  gospel,  but  we  are  not 
within  the  gospel  itself.  We  possess  it  as  a  treasure  of 
which  we  have  not  the  key,  with  which  we  can  do  nothing, 
and  upon  which  we  cannot  live.  "  We  have  a  name  to 
live,  but  are  dead." 

I  believe  it  important  to  insist  on  this  singular  state  of 
the  soul,  because  it  is  common  and  little  noticed.  There 
are  among  us,  perhaps,  few  skeptics,  properly  speaking, 
who  account  to  themselves  for  their  skepticism.  But  there 
are  among  us  many  persons  whose  intellects  believe,  whose 
hearts  doubt.  Surprised  themselves  at  the  discordance 
which  they  observe  between  their  opinions  and  their  feel- 
ings, they  seek  for  the  cause,  and  cannot  imagine  it.  If 
they  had  searched  thoroughly,  they  would  have  discovered 
it  in  the  illicit  retention  and  guilty  cherishing  of  an  idol 
which  they  had  not  the  courage  to  sacrifice.  Ordinarily  it 
is  some  unhappy  bias  which  strikes  their  Christianity  with 
paralysis  and  death;  some  forbidden  thing,  obstinately  kept 
in  their  tent,  which  has  caused  the  curse  to  rest  upon  it. 
This  is  the  secret  of  so  many  half-conversions,  of  so  much 
defective  Christianity.  This  explains  the  character  of 
those  men,  who,  according  to  the  remarkable  expression  of 
the  apostle,  "  are  ever  learning,  but  never  coming  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth."  It  is  said  that  when  a  mighty 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  235 

ship  is  on  the  point  of  being  launched  into  the  sea,  when 
all  is  ready,  when  the  last  blow  of  the  axe  has  caused 
the  last  support  to  fall,  the  spectators  are  often  surprised 
to  see  the  noble  vessel  remain  immovable  on  its  smooth 
base ;  the  curious  eye  seeks  every  where  for  the  mysterious 
cause  of  this  immobility ;  and  in  a  short  time  a  mere  pebble 
is  discovered  under  its  keel,  which  resists  the  whole  force 
of  that  colossal  ship.  Do  you,  then,  from  whom  the  secret 
of  your  delay  and  irresolution  on  the  way  to  truth  has  been 
concealed,  search  well,  and  in  some  unseen  recess  of  the 
soul,  you  will  perceive  some  favorite  inclination,  some  invet- 
erate habit,  some  passion  ashamed  to  show  itself,  which, 
in  its  obscure  retreat,  opposes  the  generous  launch  which 
bears  you  towards  the  Saviour. 

Let  us  apply  this  general  observation  to  human  glory, 
and  set  forth  a  truth,  which  presents  itself  in  the  very  com- 
mencement of  the  subject.  The  moral  law  is  a  law  of  per- 
fection ;  this  every  one  will  admit  without  difficulty.  But 
in  order  that  the  pursuit  of  glory  should  not  prevent  us  from 
keeping  this  law,  it  is  necessary  that  the  being  from  whom 
we  expect  glory,  should  be  perfect  in  disposition,  principle 
and  action.  If  he  is  not,  he  will  not  require  from  us  per- 
fection in  return  for  his  approbation,  or  as  a  pledge  of  it ; 
for  you  may  be  sure  he  will  not  put  his  admiration  and 
praise  at  a  price  so  high.  But  more  than  this,  he  will  with 
difficulty  permit  himself  to  be  surpassed.  Perfection,  nay, 
the  very  tendency  to  perfection,  will  offend  his  jealous  eyes. 
He  will  deny  the  necessity  of  this  tendency,  or  rather  he 
will  deny  the  reality  of  it  in  your  heart ;  he  will  misrepre- 
sent your  intentions ;  he  will  call  good  evil,  and  candor 
hypocrisy.  What  I  say  upon  this  point,  I  do  not  say  of 
this  or  that  individual,  or  of  any  one  in  particular ;  for  it 
would  be  absurd  to  pretend  that  no  man  would  consent  to 
find  his  superior  in  another ;  admiration  and  enthusiasm 
are  tacitly  involved  in  the  confession  of  inferiority.  I 


236          THE  PURSUIT  OF  HUMAN  GLORY 

speak  of  the  world  in  general,  of  its  tendencies  and  its 
maxims.  I  compare  its  morality  with  that  of  the  law  of 
perfection ;  and  I  see  that  it  is  separated  from  it  by  an 
abyss.  I  recognize  that  in  all  times  the  tendency  to  per- 
fection has  cost  those  who  have  frankly  avowed  it,  either 
repose  or  fortune,  honor,  or  even  life.  Whence  I  conclude 
that  he  who  desires  the  glory  which  comes  from  the  world, 
must  descend  to  the  standard  of  the  world,  by  espousing  its 
maxims,  or  at  least  taking  care  not  to  profess,  I  do  not  say 
opposite,  but  only  loftier  maxims.  That  we  may  leave 
nothing  equivocal  in  this  subject,  let  us  reply  to  those,  who 
cite  the  universal  enthusiasm  excited  by  generous  actions, 
and  the  spontaneous  acclamations  which  greet  the  appear- 
ance of  a  great  character,  that  there  is  nothing  in  such  facts 
which  contradicts  what  we  have  advanced.  That  man  has 
not  lost  the  power  of  admiring  moral  beauty;  that  the 
poetry  of  virtue  has  a  charm  to  him ;  that  such  bright 
flashes  dazzle  him ;  that  even  in  the  person  of  an  adversary 
or  an  enemy,  certain  traits  of  veracity,  fidelity,  self-sacrifice 
and  mercy,  irresistibly  seize  upon  his  heart, — who  could  or 
would  deny  ?  But  I  have  spoken  of  the  law ;  of  the  law 
which  embraces  all  these  virtues,  but  which  includes  them 
under  the  notion  of  obedience ;  of  the  law,  which  is  to  all 
such  occasional  manifestations  what  the  light  is  to  the 
lightning;  of  the  law  fulfilled,  but  not  absorbed  by  love;  of 
the  law  or  system  according  to  which  man  does  not  rise 
alone,  choose  his  own  virtues,  consult  his  own  nature,  take 
his  own  impressions  for  a  guide  or  seek  his  own  glory ; 
of  a  law  in  which  he  subordinates  himself  to  rule,  loses 
sight  of  himself  before  the  rule,  and  retains,  in  the  freedom 
of  love,  all  the  submission  of  fear,  and  in  an  intelligent 
fidelity,  all  the  scrupulousness  of  blind  obedience.  Perfec- 
tion is  here,  and  no  where  else.  It  would  not  even  be 
found  in  the  practice  of  all  the  virtues,  if  these  virtues  were 
not  united  in  one  bundle  by  the  tie  of  obedience.  But  is 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  237 

this  the  law  of  the  world  ?  Has  the  world  received  it  ? 
Can  the  world  endure  it  ?  And  if  it  is  not  in  its  nature 
either  to  receive  or  endure  it,  does  it  reserve  its  suffrages 
and  its  applause  for  those  who  have  made  it  their  law? 
And  the  question  is  not,  whether  in  the  depths  of  the  human 
cosscience,  this  perfect  virtue  may  not,  in  its  principles, 
receive  a  silent  homage ;  whether  many  persons  do  not 
internally,  and  so  to  speak,  unconsciously  decree  the  first 
rank  to  that  virtue  which  they  know  not  how  to  obey,  but 
ever  wish  to  obey.  This  I  believe ;  but  whence  comes  the 
applause  of  the  world  ?  For  whom  does  it  prepare  crowns  ? 
For  whom  does  it  raise  thrones  ?  And,  to  present  the  same 
question  in  another  form ;  if  one  who  obeys  the  perfect  law 
obtains  its  homage,  on  what  ground  does  he  obtain  it?  To 
what  part  of  his  being  and  his  life  is  it  addressed  ?  Is  it 
not  to  that  which  may  be  insulated  and  detached  from  the 
fundamental  principle  of  his  conduct  ?  Is  it  not  the  natural 
man  that  they  admire  in  him?  Has  the  supernatural  man, 
the  new  man,  the  man  of  God  and  of  the  law,  any  share  in 
that  homage  ?  You  know  as  well  as  I ;  you  perceive  with- 
out difficulty,  that  here  the  exception  confirms  the  rule ; 
and  you  will  conclude  with  me,  that  to  secure  the  glory 
which  comes  from  men,  he  must  lend  himself  to  their  max- 
ims, and  proportion  himself  to  their  measure ;  that  he  must 
not  surpass,  that  is,  humble  those,  from  whom  he  expects 
glory ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in  order  to  be  perfect,  that  he 
must  seek  the  regard,  and  be  ambitious  of  the  approbation, 
of  a  perfect  being. 

Let  us  now  descend  from  these  general  ideas  to  applica- 
tion and  details. 

How  can  the  soul,  which  prefers  the  glory  which  comes 
from  men  to  that  which  comes  from  God  only,  believe  in 
Jesus  with  a  real  and  efficacious  faith  ?  He  has  been  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God ;  but  the 
world  refuses  him  that  august  title.  Since  the  appearance 
20* 


238  THE   PURSUIT   OF   HUMAN   GLORY 

of  that  divine  Prince  of  humanity,  the  world  has  heaped 
opprobrium  upon  the  adorers  of  Jesus.  An  external  and 
formal  adherence  to  him  has  been  permitted  in  considera- 
tion of  circumstances ;  but  earnest  and  efficient  faith  has 
generally  been  exposed  to  derision.  Is  it,  then,  easy  for 
him  who  values  the  opinion  of  men,  to  confess  that  divine 
Saviour,  still  spit  upon  and  scourged  as  in  the  PrsBtorium, 
still  crucified  as  in  Golgotha?  And  must  he  not,  in  order 
to  lie  prostrate  at  his  feet,  have  bid  adieu  for  ever  to  the 
esteem  and  approbation  of  that  crowd  which  reject  him? 

"  He  that  says  he  believes  in  Jesus  Christ,  ought  to  live  even 
as  Jesus  Christ  lived."  But  how  did  he  live  ?  In  a  manner 
so  different  from  received  opinions,  that  it  may  be  said  that 
his  religion  is  quite  opposed  to  that  of  the  world.  For  the 
world  has  its  religion,  wherein  all  the  passions  of  the  flesh 
are  elevated  into  divinities.  Here  is  pride ;  but  we  are  to 
follow  the  steps  of  him  who  was  meek  and  lowly  in  heart; 
here  is  sensuality;  but  we  are  to  conform  our  spirit  to  his 
who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head ;  here  is  independence ; 
yet  we  are  to  resemble  him  who  came  into  the  world  to 
serve,  not  to  be  served;  here  is  selfishness;  and  we  are  to 
be  clothed  with  the  dispositions  of  him,  who  gave  his  life 
for  his  friends.  In  a  word,  we  must  embrace  a  life,  some 
of  whose  virtues  please  the  world,  because  they  are  of  use 
to  it,  but  the  general  character  of  which  wounds  and  con- 
demns it.  How  can  all  this  be  done  by  him  who  cleaves 
to  the  approbation  of  the  world  ? 

How,  for  example,  shall  he  use  his  Christian  liberty,  who 
is  afraid  that  this  liberty  may  pass  for  presumption  and 
arrogance  ?  How  shall  he  conform  his  life  and  his  manners 
to  evangelical  simplicity,  who  dreads  to  hear  himself  taxed 
with  parsimony  and  meanness  ?  How  shall  he  persevere 
in  the  exercises  of  Christian  devotion,  who  dreads  to  see 
falling  upon  his  family  and  upon  himself,  some  of  those 
insulting  epithets  which  ignorance  and  envy  pour  upon 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  239 

piety.  A  thousand  considerations  of  this  kind  form  them- 
selves around  him  like  a  net,  which  binds  and  imprisons 
him.  At  every  step  he  wishes  to  take,  he  is  held  back  by 
some  new  fear;  vexed,  he  surveys,  from  the  place  he  dares 
not  quit,  the  course  he  ought  to  pursue;  amidst  a  thousand 
emotions  unceasingly  repressed,  and  of  repentings  which 
exhaust  the  soul,  he  arrives  at  the  tomb,  without  ever  having 
known  the  joyous  liberty  of  faith. 

And  even  if  we  did  not  risk  a  departure  from  the  path  of 
virtue,  while  following  the  attraction  of  human  glory,  such 
a  pursuit  would  not  be  less  incompatible  with  the  spirit  of 
the  gospel.  In  fact  there  is,  according  to  the  gospel,  but 
one  rule  of  our  conduct,  the  will  of  God ;  one  glory  to  seek, 
the  glory  that  comes  from  God.  But  suppose  we  prefer  to 
that  glory  the  glory  that  comes  from  men,  and  content  our- 
selves with  making  common  cause  with  them ;  we  invade 
the  eternal  rights  of  God,  so  firmly  established  in  the  gospel, 
by  impiously  erecting  the  tribunal  of  man  at  the  side  of, 
and  even  above,  the  tribunal  of  God. 

The  God  of  the  gospel,  my  brethren,  is  a  jealous  God; 
he  is  a  God  who  will  suffer  no  division,  either  in  adoration 
or  obedience.  To  seek  our  law  any  where  but  in  him,  is 
to  renounce  our  Lawgiver ;  to  seek  glory  any  where  else  is 
to  renounce  our  Judge.  And  surely  he  must  hold  himself 
honored  by  the  rivals  we  give  him !  Worms  of  the  earth, 
creatures  of  a  day,  poor  sinners,  equalled  in  our  esteem, 
mingled  in  our  homage  with  the  eternal  Jehovah,  King  of 
immensity,  Sovereign  of  hearts,  adorable  Source  of  all  holi- 
ness! The  fickle  judgment  of  a  feeble  intelligence  preferred 
to  the  infallible  judgment  of  the  God  of  truth !  Glory  asked 
of  shame,  shame  cast  upon  glory  !  For  there  is  not  even 
equality  here ;  the  creature  is  not  equalized  to  the  Creator; 
it  is  placed  above  him.  From  the  very  moment  that  the 
comparison  is  conceived,  the  outrage  is  consummated,  the 


240  THE    PURSUIT   OF   HUMAN    GLORY 

Creator  is  degraded  below  the  creature ;  because  in  such 
an  approximation,  to  hesitate  is  already  to  choose. 

And  who  could  imagine  to  what  glory  we  immolate  the 
rights  of  our  Creator !  If  it  were  a  splendid  example,  if  it 
were  the  suffrages  of  all  people,  and  of  every  age,  we 
should  not  be  less  culpable ;  yet  such  a  thing  might  be 
conceived.  But  we  do  not  seek  so  high  for  pretexts  to 
insult  God.  On  the  contrary,  we  descend  exceedingly 
low,  to  the  very  dust,  to  solicit  praise.  It  is  to  the  false 
tongue  of  a  neighbor,  to  the  smiling  flattery  of  a  wit,  to  the 
condescension  of  some  earthly  grandee,  to  the  fear  of 
ridicule,  to  the  false  customs  of  society,  to  some  transitory 
fashion,  to  the  pleasure  of  making  a  little  stir  in  the  circle 
of  our  acquaintances,  that  we  wantonly  abandon  the  dig- 
nity of  the  government  of  God,  and  the  honor  of  his  name. 
Behold  the  glory  of  man  which  we  prefer  to  the  glory  of 
God!  Certainly,  my  brethren,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
enlarge  upon  this  subject  without  a  profound  contempt  of 
ourselves. 

Conclude,  then,  that  the  pursuit  of  human  glory,  by 
hindering  us  from  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  or  what  is  the 
same  thing,  from  applying  that  faith,  is  incompatible  with 
Christianity. 

There  is  only  one  kind  of  approbation  which  can  be  sought 
without  danger ;  in  heaven,  that  of  God,  on  earth,  that  of 
the  saints.  And  we  must  not  seek  even  the  latter,  except 
as  a  manifestation  of  the  divine  approbation.  In  general, 
the  reproofs  of  the  just  are  of  more  value  than  their  praises. 
Let  us  not  forget  those  beautiful  words  of  David,  "  Let  the 
righteous  smite  me,  it  shall  be  a  favor ;  let  him  reprove 
me,  it  shall  be  to  me  an  excellent  balm."  (Ps.  141 :  5.) 
He  has  not  spoken  thus  of  the  praises  of  the  righteous. 

And  let  none  oppose  to  us  such  passages  as  the  follow- 
ing, "Whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report,  think  of." 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  241 

(Phil.  4:  8.)  "Be  careful  to  do  that  which  is  good,  not 
only  before  the  Lord,  but  before  men."  (2  Cor.  8:  21.) 
These  passages,  the  true  meaning  of  which  is  established 
by  the  general  spirit  of  the  gospel,  are  authoritatively 
explained  in  those  precious  words  of  the  Master,  "Let 
your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  others,  seeing 
your  good  works,  may  glorify  your  Father  in  heaven." 
Here,  not  the  creature,  but  the  Creator  is  to  be  glorified. 
And  the  esteem  of  men  is  presented  to  the  Christian, 
not  as  his  aim,  nor  even  as  his  encouragement.  Let  all 
the  glory  return  to  God,  and  then  let  him  "  give  us  of 
his  own."  Let  God  glorify  us,  if  he  deems  it  best. 
Such,  upon  this  matter,  is  the  sentiment  of  the  true  Chris- 
tian. Our  doctrine,  then,  remains  entire.  The  pursuit  of 
human  glory  is  incompatible  with  the  profession  of  the 
Christian.  He  ought  to  be  ambitious  only  of  the  glory 
that  comes  from  God. 

Brethren,  if  our  object  were  not  to  induce  you  to  conform 
to  a  precept,  and  to  follow  a  counsel,  but  to  acknowl- 
edge a  truth,  you  have  already  heard  enough.  You  do 
not  need  arguments  to  convince  you  that  the  approbation 
of  God  is  alone  worthy  of  being  sought.  For  this  purpose 
you  have  only,  in  thought,  to  pass  the  limits  of  time, 
and  transport  yourselves  to  the  last  day,  and  the  tribunal 
of  God.  There  you  will  see  the  value  of  human  opinion. 
The  glory  of  the  world,  formerly  so  dazzling  in  your  eyes, 
will  appear  to  you  like  one  of  those  deceitful  fires  which 
rise  from  the  marshes,  and  owe  their  pale  rays  only  to  the 
thick  darkness  of  the  night.  That  renown  which,  it  is 
said,  ought  to  pass  through  all  ages,  and  levy  a  perpetual 
tribute  of  admiration  from  posterity,  will  appear  to  you  no 
more  than  the  puerile  chimera  of  a  vain-glorious  delirium. 
The  infinite  value  you  have  attached  to  the  opinion  of  your 
companions  in  trial,  will  appear  to  you  an  inexpressibly 
ridiculous  blunder.  Your  immortal  glory,  as  you  are 


242  THE   PURSUIT   OF   HUMAN   GLORY 

pleased  to  call  the  celebrity  of  a  day,  will  be  dissipated 
and  absorbed  in  a  glory  truly  immortal,  the  glory  of  God 
and  of  saints.  You  will  there  feel, — God  forbid  that  it 
should  be  with  bitter  regret, — that  these  simple  words  of 
your  heavenly  Father,  "  Well  done,  good  servant,  thou 
hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,"  will  dim  the  lustre 
of  those  pompous  terms  with  which  you  have  filled  your 
panegyrics,  wherein  you  have  audaciously  stolen  the  titles 
of  the  Creator  to  decorate  a  creature.  "  Well  done,  good 
servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things ! " 
Who  on  earth  contents  himself  with  such  slight  praise  ? 
But  in  heaven,  and  from  the  mouth  of  Jehovah,  such 
praise  is  of  immense  value ;  and  never  did  adulation  the 
most  extravagant,  enthusiasm  the  most  intoxicating,  fill 
him,  who  was  the  object  of  it,  with  a  transport  comparable 
to  that  with  which  these  simple  words  can  fill  the  glorified 
believer. 

This,  my  brethren,  is  what  you  may  say  to  yourselves. 
You  may  farther  say,  that  even  on  earth,  the  triumphs  of 
self-love  are  vain  and  miserable ;  that  they  do  not  fill  the 
heart;  that  they  can  only  deepen  more  and  more  the 
immense  and  devouring  void ;  that  the  first  effect  of  a 
triumph  is  to  produce  the  desire  for  another;  that  changes 
of  opinion  are  excessive  and  cruel ;  and  that  he  is  a  fool 
who  places  his  happiness  at  the  mercy  of  that  fickle  and 
inconsistent  opinion.  You  will  say  to  yourselves  that, 
when  the  craving  for  esteem  and  applause  seizes  upon  a 
soul,  it  permits  nothing  good  to  subsist  along  with  it;  that 
there  is  no  longer  room  for  love  in  a  heart  which  glory 
fills;  that  nothing  withers  the  soul  like  this  dangerous 
passion ;  and  that  it  steals  from  us  the  purest  pleasures 
and  the  noblest  emotions  of  which  the  soul  is  susceptible. 

I  repeat  it,  then,  that,  if  to  be  conformed  to  truth  it  were 
only  necessary  to  know  it,  you  might  rely  upon  yourselves 
for  the  success  of  this  discourse.  But  experience  has 


INCOMPATIBLE    WITH   FAITH.  243 

proved  to  you  the  contrary.  There  are  a  thousand  truths 
that  have  subdued  your  intellect,  without  controlling  your 
life.  Know,  then,  that  this  work  is  not  yours,  and  that 
you  will  never  save  yourselves.  Ah  !  you  feel  it,  perhaps. 
To  renounce  the  esteem  of  the  world,  to  cease  making  it 
an  end  and  a  rule,  and  to  seek  only  the  approbation  of 
God,  is  a  miracle  which  belongs  only  to  God  to  work  in 
you,  and  which  it  is  your  privilege  to  ask  of  him.  May 
you,  then,  may  we  all,  ask  it  of  him,  with  sincerity, 
earnestness  and  perseverance.  May  we  see  forming  in  our 
hearts  a  holy  tranquillity,  with  reference  to  the  judgments 
of  men.  Freed  from  the  heavy  chains  of  opinion,  may  we 
feel  ourselves  free  to  believe,  to  love,  to  obey,  till  the  day 
comes,  when,  delivered  for  ever  from  that  importunate 
vision  of  human  glory,  we  shall  rejoice  in  the  rays  of  a 
true  glory,  in  the  bosom  of  our  God  and  of  his  Christ. 


XVI. 


POWER  OF  THE  FEEBLE.* 

"There  are  many  members,  "but  only  one  tody.  The  eye  cannot  say 
to  the  hand,  I  have  no  need  of  thee  ;  nor  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have 
no  need  of  you.  Nay,  those  members  which  seem  to  be  the  feeblest, 
are  the  most  necessary." — 1  COB.  12  :  20 — 22. 

"  THE  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation." 
It  was  by  these  words,  and  many  others  like  them,  that 
Jesus  Christ  turned  the  attention  of  the  Jews,  from  their 
accustomed  prospect  of  glory,  splendor  and  power,  to  that 
of  the  gospel,  composed  as  it  is  of  far  different  aspects. 
But  the  friend  of  the  simple  and  meek,  the  God  of  the  poor 
in  spirit,  the  Prince  of  the  little  and  the  feeble,  could  not 
make  himself  understood  by  a  multitude  of  carnal  Israel- 
ites, carried  away  by  false  greatness.  The  same  thing 
happens  in  our  days ;  his  humility  conceals  him  from  our 
proud  hearts.  We  voluntarily  make  a  selection  in  his 
gospel,  leaving  to  him  the  lowliness  he  has  chosen,  and 
taking  to  ourselves  the  loftiness  he  has  disdained.  And 
here  I  do  not  speak  only  of  external  pomp,  of  which  it  is 
easy  to  see  the  nothingness,  but  of  the  splendor  of  certain 

*  Preached  on  the  anniversary  of  the  day  of  Pentecost. 


POWER   OF   THE    FEEBLE.  245 

spiritual  gifts  which  distinguish  a  Christian,  without  the  aid 
of  external  circumstances,  and  may  appear  to  us  worthy  of 
our  ambition.  But  it  is  not  ambition,  whatever  fine  name 
it  may  assume,  which  is  favored  by  the  gospel ;  and  we  find 
the  proof  of  this,  in  the  passage  in  which  St.  Paul  contrasts 
the  various  gifts  which  the  Spirit  of  God  had  just  shed 
upon  the  church,  "  There  are  many  members,  but  only  one 
body.  And  the  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I  have  no  need 
of  thee ;  nor  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have  no  need  of  you. 
Nay,  those  members  of  the  body,  which  appear  the  feeblest, 
are  the  most  necessary." 

The  day  of  Pentecost  was,  even  to  the  carnal  eye,  a  very 
great  day.  The  mighty  rushing  wind,  the  tongues  of  fire, 
the  miraculous  gifts  suddenly  distributed  among  the  apos- 
tles, and  that  extraordinary  energy  which  made  them  new 
men,  were  doubtless  all  wonderful.  Nevertheless,  the 
festival  of  the  Holy  Spirit  includes  still  greater  things ;  and 
the  gospel,  which  to-day  recounts  to  us  the  effusion  of  these 
splendid  gifts,  authorizes  us,  by  the  voice  of  St.  Paul,  to 
proclaim  the  superiority  of  some  other  gifts  more  obscure 
and  inconsiderable  in  appearance,  of  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  equally  the  author.  This  is  what  we  propose  to  do,  to- 
day, while  explaining  these  closing  words  of  the  apostle, 
"  the  members  of  the  body  which  appear  the  feeblest,  are 
yet  the  most  necessary." 

The  Greek  word  rendered  feeble,  in  our  versions  of  the 
Bible  does  not,  in  this  place,  signify  feebleness,  properly 
speaking,  but  inferiority.  The  more  feeble  members,  are 
those  less  remarkable,  or  less  distinguished.  Besides,  if 
the  same  word  is  used  to  designate  two  different  ideas,  it  is 
because  they  have  some  relation  to  each  other,  at  least  in 
the  vulgar  opinion.  It  is  so  common,  when  one  possesses 
power,  to  exhibit  it,  and  even  to  make  a  parade  of  it, 
that  a  life,  obscure,  concealed,  modest,  almost  always  sug- 
gests the  idea  of  timidity  and  feebleness.  If  this  opinion 
21 


246  POWER   OF    THE    FEEBLE. 

is  often  well  founded  in  the  world,  it  is  not  so  in  the  church ; 
and  it  is  the  church  which  is  referred  to  in  my  text.  This 
body  is  the  church,  these  members  are  the  members  of 
the  church,  and  the  more  feeble  are  those  who  have 
received  the  less  splendid  and  apparently  less  elevated 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Such  are  the  feeble  members 
which  Paul  represents  as  the  most  necessary.  But  as  the 
apostle  has  spoken,  in  the  whole  chapter,  of  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  since  it  is  with  reference  to  these,  that  he  dis- 
tinguishes the  members  of  the  church  as  strong  and  feeble, 
we  believe  that  we  may  present  the  idea  of  the  apostle  in 
this  form.  The  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  are  the 
most  feeble,  are  also  the  most  necessary. 

The  gifts  of  the  first  rank,  I  mean  the  more  splendid  gifts, 
are  of  two  kinds.  Those  that  are  supernatural,  such  as 
speaking  in  unknown  tongues,  curing  diseases,  predicting 
the  future ;  secondly,  those  that  are  natural,  some  of  which 
relate  to  the  heart,  such  as  a  triumphant  joy,  a  faith  changed, 
as  it  were,  to  sight,  a  kind  of  anticipation  of  the  privileges 
of  the  celestial  city ;  while  others  relate  to  the  intellect,  as 
the  gift  of  teaching  and  convincing,  a  persuasive  eloquence, 
profound  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  generally  all 
those  talents  which  can  be  applied  to  the  service  of  religion. 
Such  are  the  gifts  of  the  first  order ;  but,  in  the  present  day, 
we  cannot  accurately  distinguish,  in  such  an  enumeration, 
those  natural  talents  of  the  mind  from  those  peculiar  senti- 
ments which  grace  has  produced  in  a  Christian  soul. 

In  the  train  of  these  gifts,  to  speak  after  the  manner  of 
the  apostle,  come  the  gifts  that  are  more  feeble.  These 
are  humility,  by  which  a  believer  abases  himself  before 
God,  and  regards  others  as  more  excellent  than  himself; 
fidelity  which  will  not  be  unjust  in  the  smallest,  any  more 
than  in  the  greatest  things;  purity  of  manners  and  of 
thought,  which  keeps  undefiled  the  temple  where  the  Holy 
Spirit  deigns  to  dwell;  truth  which  would  not,  for  the 


POWER   OF   THE   FEEBLE.  247 

greatest  bribe,  open  its  lips  to  the  slightest  falsehood ;  con- 
tentment, which  bears  all  losses  without  a  murmur,  because 
its  real  treasure  cannot  be  taken  from  it ;  activity,  which 
remembers  that  the  kingdom  of  God  consists  not  in  words, 
but  in  deeds ;  charity,  in  fine,  but  not  charity  factitious, 
borowed,  learnt  by  heart,  but  a  true  love,  a  tenderness  of 
soul,  which  alternately  pities  and  consoles,  soothes  and 
beseeches ;  which  cannot  revile  or  despise ;  which  bears 
all  things,  excuses  all  things;  which  rejoices  not  in  iniquity, 
but  rejoices  in  the  truth. 

Would  you  not,  my  brethren,  regard  him  as  supremely 
happy  who  had  received  from  the  goodness  of  God  all  these 
gifts  united  ?  Well,  one  may  possess  them  all,  without 
making  any  noise  in  the  world.  A  multitude  of  persons 
may  have  this  assemblage  of  gifts  truly  divine,  without 
being  remarked,  without  being  suspected.  And  in  what 
caverns,  you  will  ask  me,  in  what  deserts  are  these  excel- 
lent persons  concealed  ?  In  what  deserts  ?  In  your  cities, 
in  your  villages,  in  the  midst  of  yourselves,  to  whom  they 
hold  relations  of  business  and  of  friendship  ;  in  the  world, 
where  they  have,  so  to  speak,  a  profession,  a  post  of  duties. 
If  you  cannot  discover  them,  look  to  yourselves !  You  have 
the  eye  of  flesh  that  sees  their  bodies,  the  eye  of  self-love 
which  sees  defects  ;  you  have  not  the  spiritual  eye  which 
seeks  complacently  in  every  soul,  not  vices  and  imperfec- 
tions, but  the  glorious  and  delightful  traces  of  the  presence 
of  the  divine  Spirit.  And  how  otherwise  could  you  per- 
ceive such  persons  ?  They  have  neither  the  vanity  which 
pushes  itself  forward,  nor  the  talents  which,  willing,  or 
unwilling,  compels  belief.  Let  me  speak  plainly  upon  this 
point.  Persons  advanced  in  spiritual  attainments  often 
deceive  themselves.  Involuntarily  they  seek  splendor  and 
power,  and  nothing,  in  the  sphere  to  which  they  belong, 
reveals  to  them  either  the  one  or  the  other.  That  faithful 
soul  I  have  described  to  you,  cannot  perhaps  give  an  ac- 


248  POWER   OF   THE    FEEBLE. 

count  of  his  thoughts;  he  is  scarcely  conscious  of  his  state ; 
he  has  the  appearance  of  seeking  long  after  that  which  he 
has  found ;  he  appears  behind  those  whom  he  really  precedes. 
His  faith  is  not  always  a  well  connected  system ;  it  has  many 
deficiencies,  many  apparent  inconsistencies ;  faithful  in 
principle,  he  errs  sometimes  in  form.  That  very  joy  which 
seems  inseparable  from  Christianity,  does  not  appear  very 
perceptible  either  in  his  aspect  or  in  his  discourse.  That 
enthusiasm  which  kindles  on  the  countenance  of  some,  is 
foreign  to  his  character,  frightens  perhaps  his  timid  humil- 
ity. In  a  word,  his  life  is  one  "  hid  with  God,"  which  God 
only  knows,  and  which  God  only  appreciates. 

But  these  obscure  gifts  are  the  ones  which  Paul  exalts  in 
my  text,  and  proclaims  as  the  most  necessary.  This  is 
true,  in  the  first  place,  with  reference  to  the  individual  who 
possesses  them.  What  is  the  great  point  at  issue  for  him  ? 
What  is  his  supreme  interest  ?  It  is  the  re-establishment 
in  him  of  the  divine  image  ;  it  is  regeneration  ;  for  regen- 
eration is  salvation.  Well,  that  regeneration  consists 
entirely  in  the  obscure  or  feeble  gifts  of  which  we  have 
spoken.  The  other  gifts  which  God  may  confer  upon  a 
soul  are,  to  speak  justly,  divine  favors,  by  which  he  would 
make  known  his  munificence  ;  they  are  the  splendors  which 
he  scatters  here  and  there,  as  he  judges  necessary,  special 
privileges,  which  serve  to  indicate,  even  on  earth,  to  what 
glory  a  regenerated  soul  may  attain  in  heaven.  But  it 
is  not  on  this  condition  alone  that  he  is  regenerated  and 
saved.  Nor  is  there  all  the  difference  which  might  be 
thought  between  the  more  splendid  and  the  more  obscure 
gifts.  When  the  sun  sheds  his  beneficent  rays  upon  our 
globe,  he  penetrates  at  once  into  palaces  and  cottages ;  but 
in  palaces  his  beams  are  reflected  from  crystal  and  gold; 
in  cottages,  they  fall  upon  tarnished  surfaces  which  give 
back  no  reflection ; — no  matter,  in  the  cottage  as  well  as  in 
the  palace,  he  diffuses  heat  and  life.  In  the  humble  retreat 


POWER    OF   THE    FEEBLE.  249 

of  the  poor,  as  well  as  in  the  mansion  of  royalty,  what  has 
penetrated  is  equally  the  star  of  day,  the  king  of  the  heav- 
ens, and  the  soul  of  nature.  So,  also,  in  the  case  of  the 
obscure  Christian,  it  is  truly  the  Holy  Spirit  that  dwells 
within  him.  If  that  Spirit  does  not  reveal  himself  there 
with  as  much  splendor,  he  dwells  with  no  less  entireness, 
and  with  all  his  essential  characteristics.  That  which  distin- 
guishes a  Christian  is  not  precisely  enthusiasm  and  ardor, 
still  less  talent  and  eloquence ;  but  humble  faith,  the  faith 
which  knows  how  to  wait,  humility,  and  especially  love. 
With  these  gifts,  he  has  passed  from  death  to  life :  what 
needs  he  more  ? 

More  ?  Ah !  God  has  doubtless  shown  his  wisdom  in 
rarely  according  more.  Danger  is  attached  to  all  eleva- 
tion, from  which  spiritual  elevation  is  not  excepted.  Internal 
gifts  are  those  particularly,  which,  incorporated  with  our 
being,  appear  to  form  a  part  of  ourselves.  We  too  easily 
forget  that  we  possess  them  by  grace,  and  that  it  is  absurd 
to  glorify  ourselves  on  account  of  what  we  have  received. 
Pride,  which  ferments  secretly  in  the  recesses  of  our  soul, 
takes  occasion  to  gain  entire  possession  of  it.  Hence 
burning  fervors  and  extraordinary  talents  have  often  been 
seen  opening  a  passage  to  spiritual  pride,  which,  like  all 
other  pride,  goes  before  destruction.  This  danger  is  so 
real  and  so  great,  that  our  Lord  frequently  takes  occasion 
to  bring  some  internal  humiliation  upon  those  whom,  with- 
out this,  their  privileges  would  elevate-  too  high.  St.  Paul, 
without  explaining  himself  further,  tells  us  "of  a  thorn  in 
the  flesh,"  which  doubtless  reminded  him  of  his  former 
misery,  and  preserved  him  from  being  elated  with  pride. 
And  to  how  many  distinguished  Christians  has  God  shown 
himself  on  purpose  sparing  of  some  grace,  the  possession 
of  which  would  have  made  their  glory  too  complete,  and 
their  position  too  perilous  ?  How  many  Christians  have 
found,  in  the  necessity  of  struggling  with  some  obstinate 
21* 


250  POWER   OF   THE   FEEBLE. 

bias,  or  in  the  presence  of  some  irresistible  doubt,  a  coun- 
terpoise to  that  presumption  which  naturally  springs  from 
the  consciousness  of  power !  By  which  we  may  judge  how 
wise  is  that  precept  of  the  great  apostle,  "  Seek  not  high 
things,  but  walk  with  the  humble." 

These  obscure  and  feeble  gifts  are  also  the  most  neces- 
sary to  the  church.  All  the  graces  of  God,  splendid  or 
obscure,  have  benefited  the  church  ;  but  God  having  multi- 
plied feeble  Christians,  and  distributed  more  sparingly  those 
that  are  strong,  has  by  this  sufficiently  indicated  the  impor- 
tance he  attaches  to  the  former.  If,  in  the  primitive  church, 
he  granted  extraordinary  gifts  to  believers  generally,  it  was 
only  in  a  certain  measure,  and  for  a  time.  In  general,  he 
has  appeared  disposed  to  humble  power,  reserving  triumphs 
for  weakness.  "  He  has  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  the  wise,  and  feeble  things  to  confound 
the  strong,  things  vile  and  despised,  yea,  things  that  are  not 
to  bring  to  nought  things  that  are."  He  has  brought  into 
competition  riches  and  poverty,  wisdom  and  ignorance,  phi- 
losophy and  rusticity  ;  but  poverty,  rusticity  and  ignorance 
have  conquered.  From  time  to  time  he  has  called  to  his 
aid  genius  and  power,  and  permitted  them  to  co-operate  in 
his  work ;  but  when  he  has  so  willed  it,  the  sling  of  the 
young  son  of  Jesse  has  sufficed  to  overthrow  Goliath.  The 
smallness  of  the  means  has  only  served  to  enhance  the 
power  of  him  who  employed  them.  In  all  time,  the  church 
has  been  sufficient  to  the  church,  truth  has  been  sufficient 
to  truth.  Eloquence  and  enthusiasm  have  not  done  so 
much  for  this  sacred  cause  as  the  modest  virtues,  the  uni- 
form activity,  and  the  patient  prayers  of  thousands  of 
believers  whose  names  are  unknown. 

The  consideration  of  the  great  movements  which  have 
been  accomplished  in  the  bosom  of  the  church,  have  led 
some  persons  to  a  different  judgment.  A  Paul,  an  Augus- 
tine, and  a  Luther  were  certainly  not  feeble  members  of 


POWER    OF   THE    FEEBLE.  251 

the  church.  Such  men,  or  rather  such  powers,  have  been 
ordained  of  God,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  prepare  the  soil 
of  the  church  for  a  glorious  harvest,  to  open  to  the  Chris- 
tian life  a  favorable  and  more  extensive  sphere.  And  God 
forbid  that  we  should  fail  to  recognize  the.  importance  of 
these  grand  manifestations !  But  the  reign  of  God  on 
earth  is  nothing  else  than  his  reign  in  each  of  the  souls 
which  compose  the  church.  And  if  tjie  prosperity  of  the 
church  has  for  its  measure  the  number  and  reality  of  indi- 
vidual conversions,  if  God  is  more  honored  in  the  profound 
emotions  of  souls  subdued  by  grace,  than  by  the  public 
and  solemn  proclamation  of  the  doctrines  of  revealed  reli- 
gion, let  us  acknowledge  as  a  truth,  that  the  feeble  mem- 
bers of  the  church  contribute  much  more,  proportionally,  to 
the  reign  of  God,  than  the  powerful  members  of  whom  we 
have  spoken. 

As  to  the  latter,  it  seems  to  us  that  admiration  very  gen- 
erally excuses  us  from  imitation.  Appearing  at  intervals, 
such  men  do  not  come  into  contact  with  us  all.  In  this 
respect,  their  writings  and  their  memory  but  imperfectly 
replace  their  life ;  for  it  is  by  feeble  things,  by  ordinary 
and  familiar  details,  that  they  could  make  upon  us  a  deep 
impression.  Life  alone  could  have  acted  upon  life.  But 
isolated  from  us  by  circumstances,  by  their  very  greatness, 
by  their  fame,  they  can  exert  upon  us  only  an  indirect  and 
general  influence,  doubtless  favorable  and  salutary,  but 
going  no  further  than  simply  disposing  us  to  observe  and 
study  the  feeble  members  of  that  flock,  of  which  we  must 
form  a  part  in  order  to  be  the  children  of  God.  These 
latter  models  appear  more  within  our  reach,  although  their 
gifts  may  not  be  in  reality  either  less  precious  or  less 
divine  than  those  of  the  first  class  of  Christians.  We  feel 
that  nothing  can  excuse  us  from  their  possession;  that 
nothing. can  supply  their  place;  that  while  we  may  be 
neither  wise,  nor  eloquent,  nor  rapt  by  religious  extacy, 


252  POWER   OF   THE    FEEBLE. 

to  the  third  heavens,  we  must  be  holy ;  that  this  is  the 
natural  vocation  of  every  soul,  and  the  design  of  God  re- 
specting us  all.  This  holiness,  proportioned  to  our  measure, 
and  adapted  to  a  sphere  of  activity  which  does  not  trans- 
cend our  own,  attracts  us  by  its  simplicity,  while  it  strikes 
us  by  its  beauty.  Mysterious  in  its  origin,  wonderful  in  its 
nature,  nay,  miraculous,  if  we  consider  the  changes  it 
produces,  but  not  th^e  less  human,  attainable  and  practica- 
ble, it  is  the  prose  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  which  each 
is  bound  to  speak.  Yes,  these  lives,  habitually  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  of  a  single  and  even  tenor, 
of  a  strict  consistency,  of  a  solemn  unity,  of  a  sweet  seren- 
ity, of  an  indefatigable  and  tranquil  activity,  of  a  zeal 
which  does  much,  and  says  little, — lives,  whose  Christian 
character  appears  as  much  more  incontestable  as  enthusi- 
asm takes  a  place  inferior  to  that  of  chanty,  are  what  ac- 
complish the  most  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  These  constitute 
the  salutary  contagion  which  is  perpetually  acting  in  the 
church,  which  has  kept,  through  the  most  disastrous  times, 
so  many  hearts  for  the  Lord,  and,  in  more  favored  epochs, 
multiplied  them  abundantly. 

These  observations  sufficiently  prove  that  sincere  and 
humble  piety  is  the  greatest  of  forces,  and  that  the  more 
feeble  members  of  the  church  are  the  most  necessary  to  its 
establishment  and  its  conquests.  It  is  not  more  difficult  to 
prove  that  these  are  the  members  which  are  the  most 
necessary  to  civil  society.  This  is  to  add  the  last  feature 
to  their  character ;  for  we  ought  not  to  lose  sight  of  the 
fact,  that  the  Christian  is  a  citizen,  and  that  every  thing  he 
has  received  from  above,  has  been  given  him  to  be  used  in 
society.  We  have  distinguished  two  kinds  of  striking 
superiority,  the  one  relating  to  the  heart,  the  other  to  the 
intellect.  As  to  the  first,  it  has  sometimes  produced  very 
great  effects,  but  rather  in  the  bosom  of  the  church  itself, 
and  in  our  spiritual  relations,  than  in  the  relations  of  ordi- 


POWER    OF    THE    FEEBLE.  253 

nary  life.  As  to  the  second,  which  consists  in  mental  gifts, 
it  is  beneficial  only  when  it  is  animated  and  sanctified  by 
the  spirit  of  piety.  But  what  is  necessary  to  society  is 
this  very  piety.  The  domain  of  piety  is  not  confined  with- 
in the  circle  of  its  meditations,  to  the  inner  life,  and  reli- 
gious worship ;  piety  is  profitable  for  all  things,  is  applicable 
to  all  things.  But  we  go  further,  and  say,  piety  is  the 
only  principle  of  the  life  of  states,  and  the  only  remedy  of 
diseased  society.  Behold,  with  all  its  array  of  human 
virtues  and  brilliant  talents,  what  an  aspect  society  pre- 
sents. Raise  yourselves  a  little  higher  than  the  limited 
circle  of  your  domestic  relations,  though  you  may  find  even 
in  these  relations,  in  one  way  or  another,  the  proof  of 
what  I  advance  ;  contemplate  that  vast  horizon  of  society, 
listen  to  that  frightful  tumult  of  all  the  passions  unchained, 
plunge  into  the  heart,  and  into  the  remotest  recesses  of  that 
gloomy  labyrinth ;  in  a  word,  for  a  few  moments  contem- 
plate the  world.  Of  course  you  have  not  the  scrutinizing 
glance  of  Him  who  searcheth  the  hearts  and  the  reins ;  you 
cannot  go  to  the  bottom  of  that  revolting  sink  of  iniquity, 
which  lies  concealed  in  the  heart  !....My  brethren,  we  cannot 
see  the  glory  of  God  till  we  die ;  can  we  then,  without 
dying,  contemplate  human  iniquity  ?  But  you  have  seen 
the  surface ;  that  is  enough.  Judge  now,  if  the  finest  tal- 
ents are  capable  of  establishing  harmony  in  that  chaos, 
peace  in  that  tumult.  Judge,  also,  if  the  presence  of  a 
small  number  of  men,  full  of  Christian  joy  and  enthusiastic 
fervor,  and  for  that  very  reason,  unintelligible  to  the  mass, 
could  exert  over  it  a  sensible  influence.  0  the  true  leaven 
in  that  mass  is  the  humble,  tranquil,  obscure,  active  virtue 
of  the  thousands  of  the  faithful,  diffused  through  all  the 
recesses  of  society,  struggling  by  their  example  and  their 
prayers  against  the  general  depravity,  and  causing  their 
light  to  shine  before  men  so  sweetly,  as,  at  least,  to  attract 


254  POWER   OF   THE    FEEBLE. 

some  souls.  It  is  such,  that  the  Lord  has  cast  as  seed  into 
the  world,  a  grain  of  which  will  produce,  in  some  twenty, 
in  others  thirty,  and  in  others  a  hundred  fold.  These  are 
the  first  fruits  of  that  great  harvest,  which  is  ripening  in 
the  field  of  the  world,  and  which,  we  have  the  assurance, 
will  one  day  cover  with  its  fruits  the  entire  face  of  the 
earth. 

That  day  is  not  yet  come  ;  and  the  circumstances  which 
are  to  bring  it  develop  themselves  slowly.  Every  thing  in 
the  world  moves  more  rapidly  than  the  progress  of  that 
kingdom  of  love  and  peace.  What  improvements  are  to 
be  made,  before  man  will  deign  to  care  for  the  improve- 
ment of  his  soul !  Is  it  not  strange,  to  see  him  making 
himself  sure  of  every  thing  except  his  salvation :  restoring 
every  thing  except  his  conscience ;  speculating  on  every 
thing  except  eternity  ?  Admirable  age,  to  which  nothing 
is  wanting,  but  the  one  thing  needful !  Political  society  is 
settling  itself  on  new  foundations,  the  rights  of  man  are 
secured,  and  therein  I  rejoice ;  but  in  the  midst  of  this  de- 
velopment of  arts  and  opulence,  I  seek  for  the  Holy  Spirit, 
that  spirit  of  moderation,  of  disinterestedness  and  of  purity, 
— where  is  it  ?  Science,  literature,  public  instruction  ex- 
tend their  domain ;  culture  diffuses  itself  into  all  the  places, 
and  amid  all  the  conditions  from  which  it  was  banished ; 
intelligence  is  every  where  honored  ;  and  therein  I  certainly 
rejoice;  but  amid  these  triumphs  of  human  thought,  I  seek 
for  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  spirit  of  humility,  of  piety  and  of 
charity ; — where  is  it  ?  Ah,  my  brethren,  it  is  still  neces- 
sary that  this  divine  Consoler  should  console  all,  that  this 
power  should  subdue  all,  that  this  life  should  animate  all. 
Strive  by  prayer  for  the  advent  of  that  glorious  day ;  con- 
tend for  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  contended  for  you  ;  suppli- 
cate with  fervor,  that  his  kingdom  may  come ;  pray  that 
"  at  his  name  every  knee  may  bow,  and  every  tongue  con- 


POWER   OF    THE    FEEBLE.  255 

fess,  that  he  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  Ask 
not  for  the  extraordinary  gifts  which  he  shed  upon  the 
apostles  in  their  day,  but  pray  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
may  multiply  among  you  the  number  of  those  feeble  mem- 
bers, that  is,  of  those  humble  and  faithful  Christians,  who 
are  the  power  and  hope  of  the  church.  Let  all  of  us  to- 
gether ask  it  from  the  Father  of  lights ;  and  beseech  him  to 
add  to  the  church,  even  on  this  day,  some  souls  that  may 
be  saved. 


XVII. 


THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

"He  that  is  not  -with,  me  is  against  me." — MATT.  12:  30. 

THESE  words  were  uttered  by  Jesus  Christ,  after  the 
performance  of  one  of  his  most  splendid  miracles.  The 
Pharisees  pretending  that  he  had  performed  it  by  the 
power  of  the  devil,  Jesus  Christ  showed  them  that  it  was 
absurd  to  suppose  that  the  devil  would  aid  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  religion  altogether  opposed  to  his  interests.  Is 
Satan,  said  he,  divided  against  himself?  Then,  rejecting 
such  an  idea,  our  Saviour  added,  that  if  Satan  was  not  his 
accomplice,  as  the  Pharisees  supposed,  it  followed  that  he 
was  his  adversary.  And  why?  Because,  with  reference 
to  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  be  one  thing 
or  another.  Every  one  who  is  not  with  him,  is,  for  the 
same  reason,  against  him. 

Thus  Jesus  Christ  took  occasion  from  a  particular  fact, 
to  proclaim  a  great  truth,  one  which  is  doubtless  found 
diffused  through  the  whole  gospel,  and  results  from  the  gen- 
eral spirit  of  the  Christian  system,  but  which  had  not  yet 
received  an  expression  so  precise  and  solemn.  It  is  this 
declaration  of  our  Lord  that  will  occupy  our  attention 


THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.    .     257 

to-day.  Our  design  is  to  develop  the  evidences  of  its 
truth ;  but  it  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  explain  its  princi- 
pal terms. 

Who  is  the  man  that  is  against  Jesus  Christ?  It  must 
be  sufficiently  obvious  to  all,  that  by  this  expression,  our 
Saviour  designs  every  man  to  whom  the  gospel  is  an 
object  of  aversion  and  hatred,  whether  he  conceal  his 
sentiments  in  his  heart,  or  manifest  them  in  his  words  and 
actions.  Who,  then,  is  the  man  that  is  not  with  or  for 
Jesus  Christ  ?  We  do  not  need  to  collect  the  features  of 
such  an  one,  by  means  of  our  imagination.  The  world  is 
full  of  persons  who  are  not  for  Jesus  Christ.  We  recog- 
nize them  in  all  those  members  of  the  Christian  church 
who  belong  to  it  only  by  birth,  and  by  certain  external 
usages,  but  whose  whole  life  proves  that  the  church 
inspires  them  with  no  interest.  They  have  accepted  a 
religion  as  one  accepts  a  country,  not  by  free  choice,  but 
by  necessity.  Christians  by  birth,  they  are  not  such  by 
affection.  Having  examined  neither  the  proofs  which 
establish  the  truth  of  Christianity,  nor  the  objections  by 
which  it  is  assailed,  they  believe  on  the  faith  of  others. 
They  have  some  general  notions  of  the  doctrines  of  revela- 
tion, and  have  admitted  them  once  for  all,  without  ever- 
thinking  of  them  again.  In  a  word,  religion  is  to  them  a 
matter  of  high  propriety,  an  interesting  fact,  a  social  neces- 
sity, but  nothing  more.  It  is  neither  the  rule  of  their  life,, 
nor  one  of  their  interests.  They  aid  neither  by  their 
prayers,  nor  their  efforts,  in  the  advancement  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  They  do  not  inform  themselves  whether  it 
advances  or  recedes.  Every  thing  has  more  importance 
to  them  than  the  success  of  that  great  cause.  Such  are 
the  principal  features  of  the  characters  of  the  indifferent. 

Now  what  says  the  Saviour  with  reference  to  these 
men?     "  They  that  are  not  for  me  are  against  me."    We 
do  not  know  a  better  way  of  establishing  the  truth  of  this, 
22 


258        THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

than  by  showing  the  falseness  of  the  contrary  proposition, 
namely,  "  One  may  not  be  for  Jesus,  and  yet  not  be  against 
him;  he  may  be  neither  his  friend  nor  his  enemy;  he 
may  observe,  with  respect  to  him,  a  species  of  neutrality." 
Let  us  see  if  such  neutrality  is  possible. 

I  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that  a  real  neutrality  is  one 
of  the  rarest  things  in  the  world.  Man  is  not  made  for 
indifference ;  undoubtedly  he  may  feel  neither  love  nor 
hatred  for  things  which  are  completely  foreign  to  him,  and 
to  which  no  circumstance  directs  his  attention.  But  what- 
ever affects  him  nearly,  every  thing  which  exerts  an 
influence  upon  his  fortune,  nay  more,  every  thing  which 
he  sees  exciting  general  interest,  becomes  to  him  an  object 
of  some  kind  of  sentiment.  His  tastes  may  change,  but 
like  a  pendulum,  he  oscillates  perpetually  from  affection  to 
aversion,  and  from  aversion  to  affection,  without  ever 
stopping  in  the  intermediate  space.  His  soul  being  made 
for  feeling,  and  feeling  being  his  life,  he  is,  so  to  speak, 
constrained  to  love  or  hate,  and  to  flee  from  indifference  as 
a  kind  of  death.  Each  of  us,  by  reflecting  upon  himself 
and  consulting  his  recollections,  will  recognize  this  dispo- 
sition without  difficulty.  This  fact,  then,  will  be  sufficient 
to  put  us  on  our  guard  against  the  notion,  that  we  may  not 
be  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  not  be  against  him. 

But  if  the  observation  we  have  just  made  be  true  in 
general,  it  is  especially  so  in  the  domain  of  religion.  A 
religion  is  an  opinion  and  a  system;  but  what  distinguishes 
it  from  all  opinions  and  systems  is,  that  it  professes  to  be 
the  work  of  God,  and  "  all  in  all  "  to  man.  Any  religion 
which  should  lay  claim  to  less  would  belie  itself,  and  be 
unworthy  of  the  name  of  religion.  If  a  religion  is  true,  it 
follows  that  we  ought  to  love  it  with  all  our  heart ;  if  false, 
to  detest  it  with  all  our  heart ;  for  the  question  turns  upon 
a  matter  of  the  highest  excellence,  or  a  criminal  imposture ; 
a  work  of  God,  or  a  work  of  the  devil ;  a  thing  adapted  to 


THE    INTOLERANCE    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  259 

destroy,  or  to  save  our  souls.  Is  neutrality,  in  such  a 
case,  possible  ?  Can  we  remain,  without  any  sentiment,  in 
the  presence  of  a  fact,  immense,  overpowering,  absorbing, 
which  unceasingly  solicits  a  decision  ?  Is  it  not  here  that 
indifference  must  find  its  limit  ? 

But  I  go  further,  and  say,  if  we  had  even  remained 
indifferent,  we  would  not  the  less  have  made,  without 
willing  it,  a  choice.  Because  true  religion,  meriting  noth- 
ing less  than  our  whole  love,  not  to  devote  ourselves  to  it 
is  to  be  against  it ;  and  a  false  religion,  not  deserving  any 
thing  but  our  deepest  hatred,  not  to  oppose  it  is  to  be  for  it. 
Here,  any  middle  course  is  impossible.  The  indifferent 
person  will  hear  false  religion  on  the  one  side  say  to  him, 
Since  you  are  not  against  me,  you  are  for  me ;  and  on  the 
other  side,  true  religion  cry  to  him,  Since  you  are  not  for 
me,  you  are  against  me. 

And  to  make  this  last  truth  more  evident,  suppose  that 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh  has  descended  to  the  earth,  in 
the  person  of  a  being  resembling  you ;  that  the  character 
of  that  being  is  the  ideal  of  perfection  ;  his  work,  the  sal- 
vation of  the  human  race  ;  his  precepts,  holiness  itself;  his 
feelings  in  reference  to  you,  a  boundless  compassion.  You 
acknowledge  in  him  all  these  attributes,  and  you  say  to 
him,  Since  thou  art  the  ideal  of  perfection,  the  rule  of 
holiness,  God  himself  manifest  in  the  flesh;  since  thou 
hast  shed  thy  blood  upon  the  cross  for  the  salvation  of  my 
soul,  I  cannot  be  against  thee,  but  I  will  not  be  for  thee. 
And  for  whom,  then,  great  God,  for  whom,  then,  is  that 
heart !  for  it  is  necessary  to  be  for  some  one ;  the  heart 
must  attach  itself  to  something ;  it  does  not  live  but  as  it 
loves.  For  whom,  then,  will  you  be,  if  not  for  God? 
Probably  for  yourselves,  I  suppose.  But  what  is  that  you, 
separated  from  God,  except  the  flesh  in  all  its  corruption, 
and  sin  in  all  its  deformity  ?  And  if  a  man  is  for  such 
things,  is  he  not  against  God?  If  he  is  for  his  own 


260  THE    INTOLERANCE    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

depraved  will,  is  he  not  against  God  ?  If  he  is  for  a  demon, 
is  he  not  against  God  ?  No,  my  brethren,  there  are  in  the 
world  only  two  empires,  which  I  need  not  name ;  but  I 
affirm  that  he  who  is  not  in  the  one,  is  necessarily  in  the 
other;  that  he  who  is  not  with  Jesus  Christ,  is  against 
Jesus  Christ.  Behold  the  neutrality  of  the  indifferent ! 

The  better  to  appreciate  this  neutrality,  let  us  enter  the 
heart  of  the  indifferent,  and  give  account  of  the  feelings 
which  reign  there.  He  says  he  has  no  hatred.  Let  us 
pass  it  over.  This  hatred  we  shall  soon  meet  again.  But  are 
there  in  his  heart  love  and  obedience ;  love  especially  for 
Jesus  Christ  ?  Assuredly  not,  seeing  he  is  not  for  Jesus 
Christ.  "Well,  to  refuse  love  to  Jesus  Christ,  I  affirm,  is 
to  do  him  all  the  evil  which  an  open  enemy  could,  or,  at 
least,  would  do.  If  Jesus  Christ  had  come  into  the  world, 
as  a  king  into  a  revolted  province,  in  order  to  extinguish 
rebellion,  and  cause  the  silence  of  terror  .to  reign  in  it,  he 
might  be  satisfied  with  a  trembling  submission,  and  care 
nothing  for  the  evil  we  do  him.  But  such  a  submission 
he  did  not  desire,  nor  can  desire.  That  alone  which  he 
desired,  that  alone  for  which  he  descended  to  the  earth, 
the  end  to  which  he  directed  all  his  toils,  was  the  conquest 
of  our  heart.  Separate  from  that  triumph,  every  other  is 
nothing  to  him.  If,  then,  instead  of  our  hearts  which  he 
demands,  we  contemptuously  offer  him  a  passive  submis- 
sion which  he  does  not  ask ;  if,  in  the  place  of  that  devout 
gratitude  which  he  has  merited  by  his  blood,  we  propose, 
as  a  matter  of  favor,  to  spare  him  our  insults,  would  not 
this  of  itself  be  the  cruellest  of  insults,  the  only  one,  indeed, 
to  which  he  could  be  sensible  ?  For  what  is  our  hatred  in 
his  eyes  but  the  more  clear  and  frank  expression  of  the 
divorce  which  exists  between  him  and  us;  a  somewhat 
more  distinct  form  given  to  the  outrage  which  our  ingrati- 
tude constantly  presents  before  his  eyes?  But  perhaps  you 
consider  it  a  more  serious  thing  to  attack  and  oppose  him. 


THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.        261 

Indeed,  you  are  mistaken !  For  what  could  your  miserable 
attacks  add  to  the  crime  of  your  ingratitude  ?  Ah  !  since 
you  have  the  misfortune  not  to  love  him,  attack,  combat, 
make  war  upon  him,  as  you  please.  The  Almighty  will 
do  well  to  be  moved  by  the  rebellion  of  an  insect !  Agitate 
yourselves,  then ;  struggle  in  your  dust ;  raise  an  entire 
world,  if  you  can  against  the  King  of  worlds ;  you  will  not 
retard  for  a  single  instant,  nor  drive  back  a  hair's  breadth 
the  progress  of  the  eternal  counsels ;  not  that  Jehovah  will 
notice  your  ridiculous  efforts  because  he  sees  all  things ; 
but  because  he  has  seen,  before  all,  that  you  do  not  love 
him,  a  fact  which  ranks  you  with  his  enemies. 

We  have  spoken  of  love,  and  what  shall  we  say  of 
obedience  ?  Is  there  obedience  in  the  indifferent  ?  No, 
doubtless ;  for  he  who  loves  not,  obeys  not.  It  is  true  that 
a  servile  fear  may  fulfil  some  external  duties,  and  produce 
a  formal  obedience ;  but  the  gospel  requires  a  spiritual 
obedience,  which  is  not  possible  without  love.  To  subdue 
his  passions,  to  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it,  to  live  in 
all  humility  and  charity,  to  consecrate  all  his  powers  to  the 
advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  what  the  indifferent 
will  not  do,  what  he  cannot  do ;  he  lives,  then,  in  disobedi- 
ence. But  I  ask  you,  how  would  that  man  be  regarded  in 
a  state,  who  would  not  obey  its  laws  ?  Certainly  as  an 
enemy ;  even  if  he  had  never  taken  up  arms  against  it.  Is 
not  a  rebellious  subject  an  enemy  ?  How,  then,  shall  he  be 
considered,  who  cares  no  more  for  the  spiritual  laws  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  than  if  Jesus  Christ  had  never  given  them  ? 
Certainly  as  an  enemy.  Whence  it  follows,  that  he  who 
is  not  for  Jesus  Christ  is,  for  the  same  reason,  against  him. 

But,  we  will  not  content  ourselves  with  having  shown 
that  in  principle  the  indifferent  is  a  real  enemy  of  Jesus 
Christ.  We  will  show  you  further  that,  when  circumstan- 
ces will  it,  he  becomes  an  enemy  positively,  and  in  fact. 
What,  in  reality,  is  this  indifference,  but  a  secret,  aversion 
22* 


262        THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  . 

to  Christ  and  his  doctrine,  as  we  have  already  seen,  a  dis- 
cord between  the  soul  and  Jesus,  a  slumbering  enmity  ? 
As  long  as  it  is  not  excited  by  circumstances,  it  remains 
asleep,  it  has  no  consciousness  of  itself,  it  does  not  feel  that 
it  hates ;  and  in  some  persons,  it  remains  in  this  form,  the 
most  dangerous  perhaps,  all  their  life  long.  But  in  many 
others,  unforeseen  circumstances  awaken  it,  and  cause  it  to 
appear  in  its  real  character.  Sometimes,  it  is  a  clearer 
view  of  the  truth,  by  which  it  is  awakened.  That  truth 
from  which  they  turned  away  their  eyes,  by-and-by  strikes 
them  with  unexpected  vividness  ;  they  see  at  once  that  the 
gospel  is  a  serious  reality,  and  that  they  are  about  to  ac- 
cept or  reject  it.  They  call  up  the  whole  period  during 
which  they  have  sinned  without  reflection  ;  they  feel,  above 
all,  that  they  have  a  heart  which  cannot  relish  the  strict 
maxims  and  spiritual  savor  of  the  gospel,  and  perceive  the 
moment  they  treat  it  seriously,  they  must  change  their 
whole  life.  Then  its  renunciations,  privations,  sacrifices 
present  themselves  in  a  crowd ;  indignation  penetrates  their 
soul ;  but  instead  of  directing  it  against  themselves,  whose 
conduct  condemns  the  law,  they  direct  it  against  the  law 
which  condemns  their  conduct.  Thenceforward  they  can 
never  speak  of  neutrality  or  indifference ;  the  veil  is  torn 
away,  the  wound  is  made,  the  hatred  is  aroused.  Ever 
after  they  are  directly  against  Jesus  Christ. 

Sometimes,  also,  the  transition  of  enmity  to  its  true  form 
has  been  occasioned  by  the  religious  revival  of  those 
around  them.  Persons  have  found  themselves  in  the  situ- 
ation we  have  just  described  ;  the  truth  has  pierced  them 
with  an  unexpected  wound ;  but  after  a  moment  of  indecis- 
ion, their  indignation,  which  knew  not  what  to  fasten  upon, 
has  turned  against  themselves.  In  the  necessity  of  hating 
either  themselves,  or  the  gospel,  they  have  preferred  to  hate 
themselves.  And  from  hatred  of  themselves,  they  have 
naturally  passed  to  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ.  Then  regen- 


THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.         263 

erated  by  the  Spirit  from  on  high,  they  have  lived  a  new 
life  ;  and  notwithstanding  their  humility  and  reserve,  there 
is  so  much  difference  even  externally,  in  living  for  the 
world,  and  living  for  God,  that  the  change  has  struck  their 
neighbors.  Their  life  has  become  a  living  gospel.  The 
indifferent  and  neutral  have  then  read  the  gospel,  not  in 
dead  characters  upon  inanimate  leaves,  but  in  living  letters 
in  the  hearts  of  men.  This  has  formed,  if  I  may  so  express 
myself,  a  new  edition  of  the  word  of  God,  with  the  com- 
mentary of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then  the  same  struggle  has 
been  produced  in  the  hearts  of  the  indifferent  we  have  al- 
ready described,  the  evidence  of  the  gospel,  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  the  infinite  solemnity  of  life,  have  burst  upon 
their  vision,  and  overwhelmed  their  soul.  Then  have  they 
found  it  no  longer  possible  to  shut  themselves  up  in  a  sys- 
tem of  cold  neutrality.  The  soul  too  strongly  pressed,  has 
been  compelled  to  take  a  part, — alas  !  it  has  taken  its  part, 
and  that  is  to  hate  I  But  in  spite  of  appearances,  its  posi- 
tion is  not  essentially  changed ;  it  has  the  same  aversion  to 
the  gospel,  only  with  a  more  vivid  consciousness,  and  a 
deeper  feeling ;  and  we  can  only  say,  that  in  this  is  verified 
the  prediction  of  the  aged  Simeon,  who,  when  holding  the 
infant  Jesus  in  his  arms,  exclaimed,  "  By  thee  shall  the 
thoughts  of  many  hearts  be  revealed." 

To  hate  Jesus  Christ,  such  is  the  result  in  which  neu- 
trality and  indifference  eventually  terminate.  To  hate 
Jesus  Christ !  what  words  are  we  compelled  to  utter !  The 
most  confirmed  skeptic  would  not  have  himself  considered 
as  one  who  hates  Jesus  Christ.  But  this  sentiment  which 
horrifies  the  skeptic,  is,  ye  indifferent  ones,  the  habitual 
sentiment  of  your  soul ! 

But  that  you  may  know  at  least  what  you  do  by  hating 
Jesus  Christ,  come  and  see.  That  teacher,  full  of  grace 
and  truth,  who  went  every  where  sowing  the  word  of 
reconciliation;  that  compassionate  physician,  whom  no 


264  THE    INTOLERANCE    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

wretch  approached  without  being  consoled ;  that  friend, 
who  sought  to  gather  you  to  himself,  before  impending 
calamity,  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  brood  under  her  wings,  is 
the  being  whom  you  hate  ;  that  model  of  purity  and  char- 
ity, that  man  in  whom  his  most  furious  enemies  could  not 
discover  the  shadow  of  a  stain,  is  he  whom  you  hate ;  that 
celestial  hero,  who,  bearing  on  his  conscience  the  guilt  of 
humanity,  sunk,  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  under  the 
burden  of  the  sins  of  the  whole  earth,  and  drained  for  you 
the  cup  of  divine  wrath,  as  he  lay  prostrate  in  the  dust, 
bathed  in  sweat  and  blood,  is  he  whom  you  hate ;  that 
victim,  who  for  you  painfully  climbed  up  the  height  of 
Calvary,  permitted  himself  to  be  fastened  to  the  cross,  and 
suffered,  in  his  person,  all  that  imagination  can  conceive  of 
agonies,  and  whose  last  groan  was  a  prayer  for  his  execu- 
tioners, is  he  whom  you  hate !  Do  not  reject  this  state- 
ment. If  you  are  nothing  for  him,  who  has  been  every 
thing  for  you ;  if  you  do  not  give  one  pulsation  of  your 
heart  for  him  who  has  given  up  his  life  for  you ;  if  your 
life  is  a  perpetual  resistance  of  his  laws,  you  are  his  ene- 
mies ;  if  you  love  him  not,  you  hate  him ;  and  if  you  do 
not  yet  fight  against  him,  you  will  fight  against  him  soon. 
I  have  arrived  at  the  close  of  a  painful  demonstration, 
which  I  did  not  undertake,  I  ought  to  confess,  without 
repugnance.  But  knowing  too  well  the  condition  I  have 
described,  fully  persuaded  for  a  long  time  that  he  that  is 
not  with  Christ  is  against  him,  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to 
point  out  to  my  brethren  the  dangers  of  a  neutrality  in 
regard  to  which  many  perhaps  deceive  themselves.  I 
would,  therefore,  say  to  them,  after  the  example  of  Joshua, 
"Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve."  Those  have 
chosen,  who,  with  slow  and  laborious  step,  but  without 
irresolution,  have  commenced  their  march  towards  the 
land  of  infinite  discoveries;  who,  not  yet  possessing  the 
whole  truth,  seek  it  with  sincerity  and  patience;  who, 


THE  INTOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.         265 

solicited  by  the  flesh  and  the  world,  turn  with  a  sigh  to 
God,  who  can  aid  them,  and  who,  every  day,  offer  to  the 
Saviour  their  good-will,  not  being  able  to  oner  him  any 
thing  else.  May  God  preserve  us  from  discouraging  any 
one,  and  "  crushing,"  as  the  poet  says,  "  the  new-born 
germ,  from  which  may  spring  an  angel !  "  But  there  are 
others  who  have  not  chosen,  and  care  not  to  choose. 
Some  of  them  persuade  themselves  that,  provided  they  are 
neither  for  nor  against  Jesus  Christ,  he,  in  like  manner, 
will  neither  be  for  nor  against  them.  It  was  necessary  to 
show  such  that  the  neutrality  in  which  they  conceal  them- 
selves is  a  real  enmity,  and  that  it  will  be  judged  as  such. 
It  was  necessary  to  arouse  such  by  our  warnings,  and,  in 
our  feebleness,  we  have  made  the  attempt.  Bless,  Lord, 
these  warnings,  given  in  thy  name.  Cause  them  to  pene- 
trate, and  take  possession  of  all  the  souls  which  need  to 
hear  them ;  nay,  of  all  our  souls ;  for  who  does  not  need 
to  be  warned  ?  Inspire  us  all  with  the  sincere  desire  to 
belong  to  Jesus  Christ  entirely  and  for  ever. 


XVIII. 
THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

"  He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us." — LUKE  9  :  20. 

SOME  days  ago,  we  developed  the  meaning  of  these 
words  of  our  Lord,  "  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against 
me."  That  was  presenting  to  you  the  gospel  in  all  its 
intolerance.  For  the  gospel  has  its  intolerance,  although  it 
sympathizes  not  with  persecutors,  and  breathes  entire  relig- 
ious freedom.  Its  intolerance  consists  in  considering  every 
one  as  an  enemy  who  is  not  its  friend.  We  endeavored  to 
convince  you  that  this  intolerance  is  reasonable,  conformed 
to  the  nature  of  things,  and  worthy  of  God.  To-day,  we 
attempt  to  explain  these  words,  which  are  also  those  of  our 
Saviour,  "  He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us."  At  first 
sight,  nothing  seems  more  contradictory  than  these  two 
propositions.  But  the  contradiction  is  only  apparent ;  these 
two  statements,  instead  of  neutralizing,  complete  each  other; 
they  give  a  natural  explanation  of  each  other's  meaning, 
and,  to  speak  exactly,  are  only  two  aspects  of  the  same 
truth.  If  our  preceding  text  has  shown  us  the  intolerance 
of  the  gospel,  this  shows  us  the  limit  of  that  intolerance. 


THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.          267 

If  the  first  has  informed  us  of  what  the  gospel  will  not 
endure,  the  second  teaches  us  what  it  will  endure.  If  the 
one  establishes  the  intolerance  of  God,  the  other  attacks  and 
reproves  the  intolerance  of  men.  These  two  expressions, 
these  two  truths,  support  each  other,  and  hold  such  a  rela- 
tion the  one  to  the  other,  that,  in  discussing  the  first  a  few 
days  ago,  we  pledged  ourselves,  as  it  were,  to  discuss  the 
other  to-day.  This  we  proceed  to  do,  without  however 
concealing,  that  if  our  first  subject  was  difficult,  this  is  still 
more  so.  You  will  all  feel  this,  more  or  less,  and  for  the 
same  reason,  understand  how  necessary  it  is  in  such  a  mat- 
ter, that  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  has  purified  our  intentions, 
should  enlighten  our  understanding,  and  direct  our  words. 
Ask  this  from  him,  on  our  behalf,  and  ask  also  for  your- 
selves an  attentive  spirit,  a  docile  heart,  and  that  quick 
intelligence  of  divine  things  which  cannot  be  given  but  by 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

While  Jesus,  accompanied  by  some  disciples  he  had 
chosen,  is  exercising,  in  Judea,  his  ministry  of  compassion, 
a  man  casts  out  demons  in  his  name.  His  disciples  wish 
to  prevent  him  from  doing  so,  because  he  follows  not  Jesus 
with  them.  But  the  Lord  rebukes  this  indiscreet  zeal,  by 
saying,  "  Forbid  him  not ;  for  he  that  is  not  against  us  is 
for  us." 

He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us.  In  the  sense  of  the 
text  we  explained  the  other  day,  these  words  would  be 
false ;  for  we  have  seen  that  if  any  one  is  not  positively  the 
friend  of  Jesus,  he  is  his  enemy.  But  let  us  carefully  notice 
what  is  referred  to  in  the  words  we  explain  to-day.  It  is  a 
man  that  cast  out  demons  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  only  he 
does  not  follow  Jesus  with  his  disciples. 

But  such  a  man,  though  he  did  not  form  a  part  of  the 
company  that  followed  Jesus  Christ,  was  certainly  not 
against  him ;  he  was  for  Jesus  Christ  as  much  as  the  dis- 
ciples themselves,  and  perhaps  even  more  so.  But  what, 


268          THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

in  fact,  was  necessary  in  order  to  be  for  Jesus  Christ  ?  To 
confess  his  name,  and  to  do  his  work;  and  these  two  con- 
ditions were  united  in  the  man  under  consideration. 

He  confessed  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ;  for  the  gospel 
informs  us  that  it  was  in  the  name  of  Jesus  that  he  cast 
out  demons.  Thus  Jesus  was  to  him  what  he  is  to  all 
Christians,  "  He  that  was  sent  to  destroy  the  kingdom  of 
Satan," — he  before  whom  all  the  powers  of  darkness  and  the 
empire  of  evil  must  bend  and  fall, — whose  name  alone, 
invoked  through  faith,  is  an  impenetrable  buckler  against 
all  the  fiery  darts  of  hell, — in  a  word,  the  Saviour,  because 
he  saves  us  from  our  most  cruel,  from  our  only  real  enemy. 

Not  only  did  this  man  confess  the  adorable  name  of 
Jesus,  but  he  performed  his  work,  he  cast  out  demons.  He 
fought  under  the  banner,  and  for  the  cause  of  Jesus.  He 
advanced,  according  to  his  ability,  the  triumph  of  his  Master. 
He  made  the  enemies  of  Jesus  his  enemies,  and  the  great 
design  of  Jesus  his  interest.  What  more  did  those  disci- 
ples who  accompanied  Jesus  in  all  his  wanderings  ?  The 
following  we  read  in  the  chapter  from  which  our  text  is 
taken,  "  And  behold,  a  man  of  the  company  cried  out, 
saying,  Master,  I  beseech  thee,  look  upon  my  son ;  for  he 
is  mine  only  child.  And  lo,  a  spirit  seizes  him,  and  causes 
him  to  cry  out;  and  it  teareth  him  so  that  he  foameth 
again,  and  bruising  him,  hardly  departeth  from  him.  And 
I  besought  thy  disciples  to  cast  him  out ;  and  they  could 
not.  And  Jesus  answering,  said,  0  faithless  and  perverse 
generation  !  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you  and  suffer  you  ?" 
(v.  39 — 41.)  To  whom,  in  your  opinion,  did  he  address 
these  overwhelming  words,  "  Unbelieving  and  perverse 
generation,"  but  to  the  disciples?  With  whom,  if  not  with 
the  disciples,  was  Jesus  tired  of  associating  ?  And  these 
very  disciples,  destitute  of  the  faith  necessary  to  perform 
the  work  of  their  Master,  are  the  ones  opposed  to  the  labors 
of  that  unknown  man !  And  why?  Because  he  followed 
not  Jesus  with  them. 


THE    TOLERANCE    OF   THE    GOSPEL.  269 

Such,  in  fact,  is  all  the  difference  which  appears  between 
this  man  and  the  disciples.  It  must  he  confessed  that,  at 
first  sight,  it  is  striking.  How  can  he  be  for  Jesus  Christ 
and  not  follow  him  ?  But  without  seeking,  by  means  of 
gratuitous  suppositions,  for  the  reasons  which  kept  this  man 
by  himself,  and  compelled  him  to  serve  Jesus  at  a  distance 
from  him,  let  us  observe,  that  at  this  period,  our  Saviour 
was  accompanied  only  by  those  whom  he  had  expressly 
called,  by  authoritatively  separating  them  from  their  labors 
and  their  families,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  a  glorious 
apostolate.  It  was  thus  he  commanded  Peter  to  leave  his 
nets,  and  Matthew  his  bank,  and  follow  him ;  but  such  an 
appeal  doubtless  had  not  been  addressed  to  this  man.  It 
was  only  a  little  later  (chap.  10)  that  seventy  disciples  were 
associated  with  the  twelve  apostles ;  and  who  knows  that 
this  adorer  of  the  name  of  Jesus  did  not  take  the  first 
place  among  them  ? 

But  all  this  is  not  of  so  much  importance  as  the  reflection 
we  are  about  to  present.  What  is  it  to  follow  Jesus  Christ  ? 
According  to  the  apostles,  yet  imperfectly  enlightened,  it 
is  to  accompany  the  person  of  the  Saviour  in  all  places, 
and  it  was  thus  they  followed  him.  But  such  a  view 
is  gross  and  carnal,  and  we  appeal,  upon  this  point,  to 
the  apostles  themselves.  One  of  them,  the  organ,  in  this 
matter,  of  the  sentiment  of  all,  has  clearly  expressed  it,  in 
saying,  "  If  we  have  formerly  known  Christ  according  to 
the  flesh,  we  know  him  in  this  manner  no  more."  (2  Cor. 
•5:  16.)  And  well  has  the  apostle  said  so;  for  to  know 
Jesus  Christ  is  not  to  have  seen  him  in  the  flesh ;  to  follow 
Jesus  Christ  is  not  to  follow  his  person.  To  know  and  to 
follow  him  is  to  recognize  him  as  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh  to  rest  upon  his  promises,  to  breathe  his  spirit.  In 
this  sense  we  can  follow  him,  though  separated  by  a  thou- 
sand leagues  and  a  thousand  years. 

Let  us  see,  according  to  this  view,  how  the  apostles  fol- 
23 


270         THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

lowed  him,  at  the  period  referred  to  in  my  text.  The  imag- 
ination is  pleased  to  represent  that  retinue  of  friends  accom- 
panying Jesus  every  where ;  but  it  sees  them  such  as  they 
since  became,  not  such  as  they  were  then.  Did  these  men, 
whom  Jesus  had  chosen,  not  for  what  they  were  in  them- 
selves, but,  as  one  may  say,  for  what  they  were  not,  in 
order  more  fully  to  illustrate  in  them  his  power,  really 
follow  Jesus  Christ  ?  Did  they  follow  him,  when  they 
disputed  among  themselves  who  should  occupy  the  first 
places  in  heaven?  (Mark  9:  33,34.)  Did  they  follow 
him,  when  they  besought  him  to  bring  down  fire  from 
heaven,  to  destroy  an  unbelieving  city?  (Luke  9:  54.) 
Did  they  follow  him,  when,  doubting  whether  they  had  done 
wisely  in  attaching  themselves  to  him,  they  asked  from 
him  indemnities  and  pledges  for  a  sacrifice  scarcely  com- 
menced? (Mark  10:  28.)  Ah!  how  many  times,  in  the 
midst  of  that  company  of  apostles,  was  the  Son  of  God 
alone?  The  sole  confidant  of  his  own  high  designs,  the 
sole  auditor  of  his  own  divine  thoughts,  how  often  did 
he  seek  around  him  in  vain  for  a  single  soul  that  compre- 
hended him,  a  single  heart  that  loved  him  as  he  wished  to 
be  loved !  In  this  point  of  view  his  solitude  was  profound. 
It  was  one  of  the  most  painful  trials  of  his  life,  as  it  was 
to  be  the  bitterest  pang  of  his  death.  What,  then,  did 
these  disciples  claim  when  they  said,  "  This  man  followeth 
thee  not  with  us  ?  "  What  difference  did  that  establish  in 
their  favor ;  and  how  could  they  know  that  this  unknown 
person  did  not  follow  Jesus  better  than  they  did  themselves  ? 
O,  how  does  intolerance  here,  as  in  all  other  cases,  show 
itself  the  close  companion  of  weakness,  and  tolerance  the 
associate  of  greatness !  Jesus  is  the  most  tolerant  of  beings, 
because  he  is  the  most  holy.  Every  thing  which  affects 
his  person  as  a  man,  disturbs  him  not,  wounds  him  not. 
What  is  it  to  him  that  this  man  does  not  follow  him  with 
the  twelve  ?  He  casts  out  demons,  and  casts  them  out  in 


THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.         271 

the  name  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  enough ;  this  man  is 
for  him. 

On  the  contrary,  see  these  apostles  still  so  Weak  in  faith. 
Their  disposition  is  the  reverse  of  that  of  Jesus.  What 
wounds  them  is  not  what  wounds  the  cause  of  God,  but 
what  offends  the  person  of  their  Master  as  a  man,  say 
rather,  what  offends  their  own  person!  What,  in  fact,  is 
their  complaint?  "  He  followeth  thee  not  with  us ; "  he  is 
not  one  of  us.  True  he  confesses  the  name  of  Jesus;  true 
he  casts  out  demons;  but  he  follows  not  Jesus  with  us;  it 
is  enough;  he  is  against  Jesus.  You  have  seen  the  toler- 
ance of  God;  behold  the  intolerance  of  man.  « 

The  question  now  presents  itself,  whether  this  declara- 
tion of  Jesus  is  applicable  only  to  the  occasion  on  which  it 
was  uttered ;  or  whether  it  may  not  be  applicable  to  our 
times  and  our  circumstances.  Are  there,  in  our  day,  per- 
sons who  wish  to  forbid  others  to  cast  out  demons  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  because  they  follow  him  not  with  them  ? 
My  brethren,  while  admitting  some  differences  produced 
by  difference  of  times,  and  giving  to  some  expressions  a 
more  general  sense,  we  meet,  in  our  day,  the  same  kind  of 
intolerance  as  that  which  merited  the  rebuke  of  our  Sav- 
iour, and  we  find  for  his  words  an  immediate  and  constant 
application. 

To  prevent  a  man  casting  out  demons  in  the  name  of 
Jesus,  is  what  we  cannot  always  do;  but  to  reject,  to 
exclude,  to  condemn  him,  we  certainly  can.  To  cast  out 
demons,  as  the  man  in  the  text  did,  is  what  cannot  take 
place,  in  modern  times;  but  to  oppose  the  power  of  the 
devil,  by  repelling  his  pernicious  inspirations,  by  avoiding 
the  snares  he  lays  for  our  souls,  by  extirpating  from  our 
own  hearts  and  those  of  others,  the  germs  of  vice  and 
error  he  has  deposited  there,  is  as  possible  in  our  day  as  in 
the  time  of  the  apostles ;  and,  thanks  to  God,  is  what  we 
frequently  witness.  Finally,  to  condemn,  reject  and 


272  THE    TOLERANCE    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

exclude  a  man,  who,  though  he  follows  not  Jesus  with  us, 
does,  nevertheless,  perform,  the  works  we  have  just  indi- 
cated, is  still  seen,  and  seen  every  day;  and  this,  therefore, 
furnishes  a  perpetual  application  for  these  most  benignant 
words  of  the  Saviour,  "  Why  do  ye  forbid  him?  He  that 
is  not  against  us  is  for  us." 

Jesus  has  disappeared  from  the  earth,  we  cannot,  there- 
fore, follow  his  person ;  but  in  the  spiritual  sense  we  have 
explained,  some  are  easily  induced  to  believe  that  they 
follow  him  better  than  others.  Such  a  church,  or  such  a 
community  believes  that  to  follow  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  be  with  it,  form  a  part  of  its  organization,  join  the 
society  of  which  it  is  composed,  espouse  its  interests,  hang 
out  its  banner.  This  church,  this  community,  then,  still 
appears,  as  in  the  times  of  Isaiah,  to  utter  these  words,  so 
full  of  presumption  and  bigotry,  "  Stand  back,  come  not 
near  me;  for  I  am  holier  than  thou."  (Is.  65:  5.)  And 
more  than  this,  we  see  that  proposition  put  in  practice, 
which  shocks  us  so  much  in  the  doctrines  of  a  communion 
from  which  we  have  separated :  "  Out  of  our  church  no 
salvation ! " 

Yet,  it  is  certain,  in  the  first  place,  that  no  church  can 
flatter  itself  that  it  is  exempt  from  faults  and  imperfections. 
No  church  can  offer  itself  as  a  perfect  model  to  all  others ; 
consequently,  no  church  can  pretend  that  out  of  its  pale 
it  is  impossible  to  belong  to  Jesus.  It  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, then,  in  order  to  judge  of  those,  who  are  not  of  its 
body,  to  have  recourse  to  some  other  test,  than  the  gross 
one  of  opening  its  registers,  and  seeing  if  such  a  name  is 
found  there. 

Even  if  it  were  perfect,  and  permitted  to  think  so,  it 
would  not,  on  that  account,  be  justified  in  condemning  those 
who  do  not  belong  to  it.  And  for  this  simple  reason,  that 
perfection  in  doctrine  and  in  morality  cannot  be  the  heri- 
tage of  all ;  that  some  particular  errors,  some  imperfections 


THE  TOLERANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL.         273 

of  detail,  do  not  hinder  a  man  from  being  essentially,  in  a 
good  state  ;  that  in  every  case  there  is  a  progressive  im- 
provement, with  which  none  can  well  dispense ;  that,  in 
general,  no  one  arrives  by  a  single  effort,  at  what  is  best 
in  theory  and  practice ;  and  that  all  that  man  can  reasonably 
require  from  his  fellow-man  is,  that  he  should  follow  the 
road  which  conducts  thither. 

What  I  have  just  said,  is  not  intended  either  to  rejoice 
the  careless,  or  alarm  the  strict.  For,  in  the  first  place,  it 
is  certain  that  the  gospel  requires  nothing  less  from  all  its 
disciples  than  perfection,  both  in  faith  and  in  morals ;  and 
secondly,  it  has  so  clearly  traced  the  limits,  beyond  which 
there  is  nothing  but  error  and  condemnation,  that  it  is  im- 
possible, on  this  subject,  to  make  the  slightest  mistake. 
What  is  the  man  who  follows  not  the  Saviour  with  his 
apostles,  but  nevertheless,  is  for  Jesus,  according  to  the 
declaration  of  Jesus  himself?  He  is  one  who  casts  out 
demons  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  I  say,  then,  to  every  intol- 
erant community,  You  condemn  that  man,  because  he  fol- 
lows not  Jesus  with  you ;  but  is  it  necessary  to  be  with 
you,  in  order  to  confess  the  name  of  Jesus  ?  This,  how- 
ever, is  evidently  done  by  the  man  whom  you  condemn.  I 
admit  that  he  has  not  studied  so  profoundly  the  system  of 
religion  as  you  have ;  that  he  does  hot  with  such  exact- 
ness unite  its  different  parts ;  that  he  does  not  so  thorough- 
ly understand  the  Scriptures ;  that  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  have  been  conferred  upon  him,  in  scanty  measure, 
and  apparently  according  to  his  necessities ;  but  he  con- 
fesses the  name  of  Jesus.  The  consciousness  of  his  misery 
has  led  him  to  Christ ;  he  has  cast  himself  into  the  arms 
of  the  Saviour  ;  he  has  loved  him  with  all  the  love  of  which 
his  heart  is  capable.  It  is  in  Him  that  he  seeks  an  asylum 
against  the  wrath  to  come,  a  consolation  in  his  sorrows,  a 
resource  in  his  wants.  It  is  through  Him  that  he  invokes 
his  Heavenly  Father ;  and  it  is  the  name  of  Jesus,  which 
23* 


274  THE    TOLERANCE    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

he  loves  to  whisper  in  the  silence  of  his  closet,  and  delights 
to  honor  before  men,  as  the  only  name  by  which  he  can 
be  saved.  What  wants  he  more  ?  What !  join  himself  to 
you  ?  Confess  your  name  as  equal  to  that  of  the  divine 
Saviour  ?  Hang  out  your  banner  by  the  side  of  that  of  the 
Lamb  ?  But  who  has  told  you  that,  I  pray  you  ?  Whence 
do  you  derive  it  but  from  yourselves  ?  I  think  all  that  you 
can  claim  from  him  (my  text  teaches  so) ,  is  that  he  be  not 
against  you,  that  he  do  not  reject  and  condemn  you.  Nay 
more,  even  if  he  had  declared  against  you  by  prepossession 
and  error,  he  has  done  nothing  more  than  you  have  done 
to  him.  If  he  ought  not  to  do  so,  why  do  you  yourselves 
do  it  ?  And  if  you  can  do  it,  why  might  not  he  ?  The 
wrong  is  reciprocal ;  and  both  he  and  you  have  to  return 
within  the  bounds  of  equity. 

I  acknowledge,  however,  that  it  is  not  every  thing,  sim- 
ply to  confess  and  invoke  the  name  of  Jesus.  "  Not  every 
one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  He  must,  in  addition  to  this,  cast  out 
demons  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  that  is,  he  must  sanctify 
himself.  And  this  is  precisely  what  that  man  has  done, 
whom  you  condemn.  I  can  easily  believe  that  he  is  behind 
you,  but  he  advances ;  I  can  easily  believe  that  you  are 
far  before  him,  but  he  follows  you ;  I  can  believe  that  you 
have  found  means  of  edification  of  which  he  is  ignorant, 
and  admit,  that  if  he  were  more  enlightened,  he  would 
profit  by  the  resources  you  have  found,  and  that  he  would 
join  you.  Nevertheless,  he  has  understood,  and  his  con- 
duct proves  it,  that  whosoever  says  he  belongs  to  Christ 
ought  to  live  even  as  Christ  lived ;  that  the  crucifixion  of 
the  old  man  with  his  lusts  is  the  only  homage  worthy  of 
being  offered  to  the  Saviour ;  that  he  must  cast  out,  in  his 
name,  the  demons  of  pride,  of  sensuality,  of  self-love,  and 
of  self-righteousness  which  infest  the  heart  of  man ;  that 
he  must  contend  against  them  by  vigilance  and  prayer ; 


THE    TOLERANCE    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  275 

and  that  unless  he  is  made  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  I  say  to  you,  God 
alone  may  require  more ;  yet  I  believe  he  casts  a  look  of 
benignity  and  peace  upon  that  servant,  who  has  been 
faithful,  in  few  things  it  is  true,  but  yet  faithful.  Is  it  for 
you,  then,  to  condemn  him  ? 

How  often  have  I  seen,  bearing  the  burden  of  the  day, 
and  bending  under  the  cross  of  his  Saviour,  a  man  to  whom 
intolerance  has  scarcely  accorded  the  name  of  Christian. 
Contending  with  old  weaknesses,  so  hard  to  remove,  bowed 
down  under  the  habits  of  a  long  life,  and  still  retaining  the 
visible  imprint  of  his  fetters,  inveterate  habits  and  usages 
still  revealed  in  him  the  old  man.  Yet  he  had  heard 
the  call  of  grace,  and,  according  to  the  measure  of  strength 
given  him,  he  had  made  his  way  out  of  that  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  by  a  painful  path,  bathed  in  sweat  and 
tears.  He  confessed  Jesus  with  sincerity;  but  with  the 
feeling  of  wretchedness  scarcely  removed.  It  was  only  with 
timidity,  that  he  could  deem  himself  one  of  the  sheep  whom 
Jesus  knows,  whom  Jesus  loves,  and  whom  his  crook  con- 
ducts to  the  pastures  of  life.  And  I  have  seen  men,  on 
account  of  the  incoherence  of  his  language,  the  remains  of 
his  ancient  habits,  and  the  feebleness  of  his  character,  take 
it  upon  them  to  refuse  him  the  title  they  accorded  to  them- 
selves, and  dispute  his  interest  in  their  common  hopes ! 
Yet  these  men  called  themselves  Christians !  And  they 
were  such  in  fact ;  but  the  remains  of  the  old  man  persuaded 
them,  that  in  order  to  follow  Jesus  Christ,  he  must 
follow  him  with  them,  seek  their  society,  relish  their  dis- 
course, adopt  their  practices.  But  I  have  consoled  myself 
by  remembering  that  they  were  at  one  time  more  exclusive 
still,  that  Christianity  had  already  partially  subdued  their 
native  intolerance  ;  and  by  reflecting,  that  in  proportion  as 
they  should  more  fully  taste  the  gift  of  God,  they  would 
put  on  more  and  more  that  divine  compassion,  charity  and 


276  THE    TOLERANCE    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

meekness,  which  ought  ever  to  distinguish  the  elect  of  God, 
his  saints  and  well-beloved  ones ;  for  tolerance,  I  have  said 
already,  is  always  in  proportion  to  holiness. 

Ah !  if  in  our  day,  we  had  to  complain  only  of  the  intol- 
erance of  Christians,  we  should  be  tranquil.  Faith,  which 
is  the  occasion  of  it,  is  also  its  remedy.  But  there  is  a 
more  formidable  intolerance,  that  of  unbelief,  or  a  dead 
faith.  We  have  seen,  with  profound  regret,  Christian 
communities  condemn  men,  though  they  cast  out  demons 
in  the  name  of  Jesus ;  but  we  may  also  see  unbelievers 
and  formalists  condemning  others,  precisely  because  they 
cast  out  demons  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  Tolerant  of  indif- 
ference and  lukewarmness,  it  is  for  zeal  and  living  faith 
that  they  reserve  their  intolerance.  And,  what  is  remark- 
able, it  is  not  because  they  believe  themselves  to  possess 
the  depository  of  truth,  and  the  standard  of  morals,  but  on 
the  contrary,  because  they  feel  that  they  have  them  not, 
and  cannot  suffer  any  one  to  enjoy  a  blessing,  of  which  they 
are  destitute.  And  not  only  do  they  condemn  them  by 
their  words,  but  they  hinder  them,  when  they  can,  they 
interdict,  they  persecute  them.  They  deny  and  trample 
under  foot,  not  merely  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  gospel, 
but  the  most  sacred  rights  of  the  human  race.  And  the 
immense  progress  of  light  is  not  sufficient  to  repress  these 
excesses,  and  public  reason  is  scarcely  shocked  at  them. 

My  dearly  beloved  brethren,  pray  with  me  for  the  peace 
of  Jerusalem ;  pray  that  the  powers  of  darkness  may  not 
long  oppose  the  reign  of  light ;  pray  that  the  consciences 
of  men  may  receive  no  other  impulse  than  that  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Above  all,  pray  that  Christianity,  becoming  purer 
in  all  the  souls  that  have  received  it,  may  present,  in  every 
place,  the  example  of  that  divine  tolerance  which  shone  in 
the  person  of  its  adorable  founder ;  pray  that  all  Christians 
may  become  more  and  more  worthy  of  that  divine  banner, 
under  which  they  have  ranged  themselves,  the  device 


THE    TOLERANCE    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  277 

of  which  is  Love  !  And  thou  eternal  God,  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  thou  who  art  clothed  with  all  perfection, 
and  whose  eyes  are  too  pure  to  behold  iniquity,  but  who 
art  full  of  patience  and  long-suffering,  breathe  thy  indul- 
gent spirit  into  those,  who  themselves  need  it  so  much  from 
thee ;  teach  them  tolerance  to  those  whom  thou  dost  toler- 
ate ;  give  to  them  the  dispositions  of  Jesus  Christ,  who, 
satisfied  with  a  pure  intention,  and  an  honest  will,  waits 
long  for  what  he  might  demand  at  once.  Teach  us,  like 
him,  to  look  upon  the  heart,  upon  what  is  essential,  and  not 
upon  vain  circumstances.  Enlarge  our  heart ;  tear  away 
the  prejudices  and  pride  which  have  narrowed  its  en- 
trance, and  grant  that  all  those  whom  thou  hast  given  us 
as  brethren,  may  find  there  an  asylum  and  a  home  ! 


XIX. 


THE  WORK  OP  GOD. 

"  Then  said  they  unto  Mm,  what  sliall  we  do  that  we  might  "work 
the  -works  of  God  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  this  is  the 
•work  of  God  that  ye  believe  on  him  •whom  he  hath  sent." 

ST.  JOHN  6  :  28,  29. 

FIRST  DISCOURSE. 

HAVING  witnessed  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  par- 
ticularly that  of  the  multiplication  of  the  loaves,  the  people 
clung  to  the  steps  of  that  wonderful  man ;  and  the  same 
Jesus,  accustomed  to  go  before  his  brethren,  appeared,  in  this 
instance,  doubtless  for  very  wise  reasons,  to  conceal  himself 
from  their  pressing  importunity.  When  they  reached  the 
other  side  of  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  whither  he  had  gone,  as 
it  appears,  to  be  free  from  their  solicitations,  he  receives 
them  with  these  mortifying  words,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  ye  seek  me  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracles,  but 
because  ye  did  eat  of  the  bread,  and  were  satisfied."  But 
it  is  not  enough  to  mortify  them,  if  he  does  not  instruct 
them ;  and  therefore  he  adds,  "  Labor  not  for  the  food  that 
perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endureth  unto  eternal  life, 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  279 

which  the  Son  of  man  will  give  unto  you ;  for  him  hath 
God  the  Father  sealed." 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  reproach  with  which  Jesus  com- 
menced, might  have  taken  from  the  multitude  the  desire  to 
prolong  that  conversation.  It  would  seem  that,  discouraged 
by  the  severity  of  his  first  words,  and  the  more  as  that 
severity  was  just,  they  would  think  only  of  retiring  at  a 
distance  from  Jesus  Christ,  from  whom,  for  the  moment, 
they  could  not  hope  to  obtain  any  temporal  favor.  If  a 
man,  before  whom  we  had  presented  ourselves  with  all  the 
tokens  of  respect  and  confidence,  should  receive  us  as  Jesus 
Christ  on  this  occasion  received  the  Jews,  we  should  be 
too  much  mortified,  or  perhaps  irritated,  to  engage  in  con- 
versation with  him,  or  even  to  remain  in  his  presence.  The 
Jews,  however,  remained,  and  put  questions  to  Jesus,  as  if 
the  gravity  of  his  words  subdued  and  retained  them  in  spite 
of  themselves,  or  as  if  they  hoped,  by  a  serious  question,  to 
give  him  a  more  favorable  opinion  of  themselves  and  their 
motives ;  and  since  he  had  said  to  them,  labor,  which  to 
them  signified  "  do  works,"  they  asked  him,  "  What  shall 
we  do  to  work  the  works  of  God  ?" 

What  does  this  question  mean  ?  About  what  did  the 
Jews  inquire  ?  They  spoke  of  the  works  of  God,  and  by 
that  expression  they  doubtless  meant,  works  which  God 
loves,  which  God  commands,  which  render  us  agreeable  to 
God,  and  like  God.  But  did  they  wish  to  know  how  to  be 
enabled  to  do  such  works,  or  did  they  wish  to  know  what 
these  works  are  ?  If  their  question  had  the  first  meaning, 
it  were  a  good  one ;  it  would  indicate  on  their  part,  an  idea 
truly  just,  and  a  feeling  truly  valuable ;  it  would  prove  that 
above  all  they  felt  the  need  of  an  internal  force,  of  a  con- 
trolling principle,  which  might  enable  them  to  will  all  that 
God  wills.  That  question  would  prove,  that  in  their  actual 
condition,  they  felt  themselves  incapable  of  doing  those 
works  before  they  had  received  a  new  spirit,  a  new  heart, 


280  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

a  new  life.  That  question  would  then  only  be  an  humble 
acknowledgment  of  their  misery  and  weakness.  But  that 
confession  is  not  included  in  the  question  they  addressed  to 
Jesus.  Do  we  not  know  them?  Do  we  not  know  their 
leaders  and  guides  ?  Is  there  not  an  immense  distance 
between  that  sentiment  and  the  gross  and  interested  motive 
which  caused  them  to  persist  in  following  Jesus  Christ  ?  If 
Jesus  Christ  had  attached  that  meaning  to  their  question, 
would  not  his  answer  have  apprised  us  of  it?  No,  every 
thing  concurs  to  prove,  and  the  form  even  of  their  question 
indicates,  that  their  thought  was  this,  Tell  us  what  are  the 
works  of  God,  that  we  may  do  them. 

But  consider,  that  they  knew  well  enough,  or  at  least 
might  have  known,  if  they  wished,  what  are  the  works  of 
God.  Moses  and  the  prophets  had  taught  them  with  suf- 
ficient clearness  and  fullness.  There  was  no  precept  of 
Christian  morality  which  might  not  be  found  in  the  writings 
of  the  old  dispensation,  by  every  one  at  least  who  could 
read  them;  and  Jesus  Christ  came  not  to  teach  new  duties, 
but  to  enforce  the  obligation  which  binds  us  to  the  old,  and 
give  us  new  power  to  fulfil  them.  These  Jews,  then, 
inquired  about  what  they  knew  already,  and  not  about  that  of 
which  they  were  still  ignorant.  They  said,  We  can,  but  we 
do  not  knoiv.  They  should  have  said,  We  know,  but  we  can- 
not, or  rather  we  will  not;  or  again,  We  cannot  ivill;  for  in 
every  thing  which  concerns  obedience  to  the  law  of  God, 
to  will  is  to  be  able. 

Since  they  thought  thus,  it  is  quite  clear,  that  they  spoke 
of  various  works,  and  what  they  said  to  Jesus  Christ  was, 
Teach  us  what  are  "  the  works  "  of  God.  This  was  the 
spirit  of  their  time  and  country.  To  them,  as  well  as  the 
Pharisees,  their  models,  morality  was  composed  of  a  greater 
or  smaller  number  of  practices  and  observances;  and  the 
difficulty  was  to  know  them  all,  in  order  not  to  neglect 
any,  not  even  in  their  slightest  details.  Work  after  work, 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD.  281 

nothing  but  works,  namely,  those  external  acts,  which  the 
hand  does  and  the  eye  sees.  Such  to  them  was  the  spirit 
of  morality ;  such,  to  the  best  of  them,  was  virtue.  There 
were  among  them  a  few  who  formed  a  higher  idea  of  mo- 
rality, a  few  who  placed  above  works  the  motive  or  the 
sentiment  by  which  they  were  inspired,  and  to  whom  the 
obedience  of  the  heart  was  the  most  important  of  works;  a 
few  also  who  felt  their  fallen  condition,  and  their  inability 
to  do  the  works  of  God,  before  receiving  a  new  heart  from 
God.  Nay,  perhaps  some  of  those  who  addressed  the  ques- 
tion, "  What  must  we  do  to  work  the  works  of  God,"  did 
so,  in  good  faith. 

Let  us  not  reject  such,  or  treat  them  with  greater  severity 
than  did  Jesus  Christ  himself.  It  is  even  something  to  in- 
quire concerning  the  works  of  God  in  order  to  do  them ;  for 
it  was  said  of  him  who  endeavored  from  his  youth  to  fulfil 
them  all,  that  "Jesus  loved  him."  Mark  10:  20.  It  is 
something,  we  say,  to  inquire  concerning  the  works  of 
God ;  it  is  much  in  comparison  with  the  indifference  of  that 
multitude,  who  cared  not  to  know,  because  they  cared  not 
to  act.  The  reply  of  our  Saviour  includes,  I  acknowledge, 
the  rectification  of  a  false  idea.  It  teaches  the  Jews  that 
they  were  deceived,  but  it  is  not  a  reproach  ;  it  is  an  instruc- 
tion ;  it  is  a  lesson.  Let  us  endeavor  to  penetrate  its 
meaning. 

We  arm  ourselves  with  our  Saviour's  language  against 
two  opposite  errors.  It  is  a  sword,  the  edge  of  which  may 
be  successively  directed  against  Jews  and  Christians,  or 
rather  against  a  certain  number  of  Jews  and  a  certain  num- 
ber of  Christians  ;  against  those  who,  in  each  of  these  two 
churches,  corrupt,  by  exaggerating  the  principle  upon 
which  their  church  is  based.  There  are  two  churches,  in 
fact,  but  not  two  religions.*1  Judaism  and  Christianity  can 

*  Vinet  here  uses  the  word  church  in  a  somewhat  loose  and  general 
sense,  as  descriptive  of  a  system  or  a  community.  The  term,  in  strict 

24 


282  THE    WORK    OF    GOD. 

be  nothing  but  two  eras  of  one  and  the  same  truth,  two 
poles  of  the  same  axis,  the  prow  and  the  stern  of  the  same 
vessel.  Each  of  these  two  systems  has  its  word  of  order 
and  rallying ;  that  of  the  Jewish  church  is  law,  that  of 
the  Christian  church  is  faith;  but  the  error  to  which  each 
is  exposed  is  to  lose  sight  of  and  exclude  the  principle  to 
which  it  does  not  owe  its  name,  but  without  which  it  can 
possess  neither  force  nor  life.  The  error  of  the  Jews  is  to 
reduce  every  thing  to  works,  and  never  to  ascend  to  faith ; 
that  of  Christians  is  not  to  see  that  true  faith  is  a  work,  and 
if  it  is  not  a  work,  that  it  is  nothing.  But  these  two  errors 
do  not  characterize  so  much  tvvo  epochs,  one  of  which  is 
yet  remaining,  and  the  other  of  which  is  past,  but  two 
classes  of  persons  or  two  tendencies,  which  reproduce  them- 
selves in  all  times  and  places.  In  addressing  ourselves  to 
both,  we  are  certain  not  to  see  one  portion  of  our  words  lost 
in  the  abyss  of  the  past,  and  the  other  only  finding  an  appli- 
cation in  the  present.  The  two  errors  we  have  marked  are 
actual  and  living,  and  both  doubtless  will  find  representa- 
tives in  every  community. 

It  appears  to  us  that  our  Lord  had  more  reasons  than  one 
to  answer  the  Jews  as  he  did,  and  that  his  response  may  be 
taken  in  more  than  one  sense  ;  and  first,  in  the  following. 
"  You  curiously  inquire  concerning  the  works  of  God,  and 
how  they  may  be  done  ;  you  run  after  righteousness  and 
obedience;  you  seem  to  say  to  God,  Speak,  Lord,  thy  ser- 
vants hear.  Well,  then,  the  Lord  is  here  in  the  person  of 
his  Messenger;  behold  before  you  Him  of  whom  Moses, 
in  former  times,  has  said,  "  The  Lord  will  raise  up  for  you 
a  prophet  like  unto  me,  him  shall  ye  hear ;"  but  you  do  not 

scriptural  usage,  has  a  very  different  sense.  It  is,  however,  certain  there 
was  a  term  church  among  the  Jews,  just  as  there  is  such  a  church  among 
nominal  Christians  j  but  the  term  may  be  applied  indiscriminately  to  all  or 
both. 

T. 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  283 

hear  him,  you  do  not  hear  him  as  a  prophet,  as  the  only 
prophet  resembling  your  great  and  first  prophet,  as  the  Mes- 
siah of  God,  as  your  King  and  Saviour,  as  the  reality  of 
the  types,  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies,  the  end  of  the 
law.  In  vain  you  press  around  him  and  follow  him  to  the 
desert;  you  follow  him  as  one  who  has  satisfied  your 
wants,  as  one,  perhaps,  who  has  done  great  works,  but  not 
as  him  who  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  You  recog- 
nize him,  perhaps,  as  a  messenger  of  God,  but  not  in  a  high 
and  incommunicable  sense,  as  him  whom  God  hath  sent  to 
accomplish  all  his  will  with  reference  to  you  and  all  man- 
kind. He  of  whom  Moses  spoke,  in  whom  Abraham  re- 
joiced, whose  humiliation  Isaiah  predicted,  and  whose  day 
Daniel  indicated,  is  come ;  he  stands  before  you,  he  utters 
in  your  hearing  words  full  of  grace  and  truth,  yet  you  do  not 
perceive  him.  You,  who  are  so  quick  to  recognize  the 
signs  of  the  times,  who  are  so  smitten  with  every  thing 
which  is  called  glory,  you  do  not  discern  this  time,  you  do 
not  perceive  this  glory.  It  is  not  enough  even  that  you  do 
not  acknowledge  him  whom  God  hath  sent,  ye  do  not  even 
listen  to  what  he  announces.  If  any  one  should  come  in 
his  own  name,  with  promises  of  worldly  glory  and  pros- 
perity, you  would  receive  him  readily  enough ;  but  you  do 
not  receive  him  who  comes  in  the  name  of  God,  with  divine 
authority,  and  in  the  Spirit  of  God.  Your  hardened  heart 
rejects  "  the  sent  of  God,"  and  yet  you  care  for  the  works 
of  God  !  What  hypocrisy  and  blindness !  The  works  of 
God !  But  first  do  this,  give  glory  to  God  by  receiving 
him  whom  he  hath  sent ;  and  when  you  inquire  as  to  the 
means  of  honoring  him  by  your  works,  do  not  begin  to  dis- 
honor him  by  your  unbelief.  How  can  you  do  the  works 
of  God,  when  you  shut  the  doors  of  your  hearts  against  him 
who  speaks  in  his  name  ?  First  open  your  eyes,  believe  in 
the  Messenger  of  God,  believe  in  God  himself;  this  is  the 


284  THE    WORK    OF    GOD. 

work  I  propose  to  you  on  his  behalf;  this  is  the  work  which 
must  be  done  first ;  the  others  you  will  not  do  before. 

We  venture  to  attach  another  meaning  to  the  words  of 
our  Lord.  God  has  promised  to  send,  in  the  course  of 
ages,  another  prophet,  one  resembling  your  first  prophet, 
and  who  could  not  resemble  him,  except  by  being  his 
superior,  if,  like  him,  and  on  the  same  foundation,  he  is  to 
found  a  church  and  a  people.  God  has  promised  this,  and 
you  believe  it.  But  if  you  believe  it,  you  admit,  on  the 
same  ground,  that  this  new  prophet  will  teach  you  to  do 
the  works  of  God.  For  if  he  does  not  teach  you  this, 
what  would  he  teach  you  ?  But  how  could  he  teach  you 
were  he  not  that  prophet  ?  How,  again,  could  you  learn 
any  thing  from  him  who  says  he  is  that  prophet,  but  is 
not  ?  Will  you  give  the  lie  to  all  your  prophets,  and  say 
that  this  prophet  was  not  to  come  ?  Will  you  say  he  was 
to  come,  but  that  the  man  before  you,  this  Jesus,  mighty 
in  words  and  in  deeds,  is  not  he  who  was  to  come  ?  You 
may  shut  your  eyes  to  the  light,  but  know,  after  all,  that 
these  works  respecting  which  you  show  some  anxiety,  you 
will  never  do,  but  by  faith  in  him  whom  God  hath  prom- 
ised ;  know  that  without  him  ye  can  do  nothing ;  know 
that  ye  must  be  united  to  him,  partake  of  his  spirit,  believe 
the  truths  he  announces,  and  especially  believe  the  truth 
of  which  he  is  the  representative,  in  order  to  do  the  works 
of  God.  Others  have  done  these  works  before  you,  who, 
not  seeing  the  Messiah  with  their  natural  eye,  have  seen 
him  by  the  eye  of  faith,  have  embraced  him  by  hope,  have 
possessed  him  by  love.  In  whatever  way  he  communicates 
to  men  that  wonderful  power,  it  is  he,  and  no  other,  that 
communicates  it.  Believe,  then,  that  it  is  he  who  was  to 
come,  and  ask  him ;  or  believe  that  he  is  not  the  promised 
one,  and  do  not  ask  him.  Deny  at  once  that  advent,  and 
whatever  must  accompany  it ;  deny  the  Messiah  when  he 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  285 

is  come,  but  never  hope  to  do  the  works  of  God  until  with 
the  heart  and  the  mouth  you  have  said,  "  Blessed  be  he 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord !  "  * 

We  are  approaching,  step  by  step,  the  most  profound 
sense,  the  real  sense,  of  our  Saviour's  reply.  It  is  proper 
to  believe,  without  comprehending  it,  that  the  power  to  do 
the  works  of  God  depends  upon  faith  in  him  whom  he 
hath  sent;  but  it  is  given  to  us  to  comprehend  it,  as  it  was 
given  to  those,  who,  living  before  the  advent  of  Jesus 
Christ,  were  united  to  him  by  faith,  to  experience  it.  Let 
us  take  up  the  question  of  the  multitude. 

That  multitude  appear  to  be  animated  by  a  laudable 
desire.  They  wish  to  do  the  works  of  God.  The  works  of 
God, — expression  strong  and  emphatic  in  its  brevity, — are 
the  works  which  God  commands,  which  are  done  in  his 
spirit,  which  honor  him,  and  which,  consequently,  he 
accepts  and  approves.  This,  doubtless,  is  the  idea  of  the 
Jews.  But  it  does  not  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  subject,  for 
it  does  not  reach  the  principle  of  true  obedience,  and  the 
only  condition  of  real  works  of  God.  A  work  of  God  is, 
above  all,  a  work  which  has  an  affinity  to  God.  All  other 
characteristics  are  comprised  in  this,  all  depend  upon  it. 
But  we  cannot,  without  an  abuse  of  words,  speak  of  an 
affinity  to  God,  which  does  not  consist  in  love.  Indeed,  if 
you  do  not  love  God,  you  have  no  relation  to  him  but  that 
of  fear.  But  fear  is  not  an  affinity,  it  is  its  opposite ;  it 
does  not  unite,  it  separates.  If  the  object  of  God  in  giving 
a  religion  to  men,  is  to  unite  them  to  him,  if  the  very 
name  of  religion  expresses  that  object,  it  is  necessary,  first 
of  all,  that  this  connection  of  love  should  be  established 
between  men  and  him.  And  all  the  works  which  men 
may  do,  without  this  connection,  are  not  works  of  God. 

*  These  meanings  of  our  Saviour's  language,  so  admirably  paraphrased 
by  our  author,  are  not  really  two,  or  double  meanings,  but  simply  two 
aspects  and  applications  of  one  and  the  same  meaning.  T 

24* 


286  THE    WORK   OP   GOD. 

It  is  impossible  they  should  be  performed  in  his  spirit, 
because  nothing  but  love  can  transfer  his  spirit  to  ours. 
Nor  is  it  possible  they  should  honor  him ;  for  if  love  has 
not  dictated  them,  fear  has,  and  fear  does  not  honor  him. 
It  is  equally  impossible  he  should  approve  them ;  for  what 
he  desires,  the  only  thing,  indeed,  he  can  desire,  is  our 
heart,  and  that  is  not  in  them.  In  fine,  it  is  impossible  they 
should  be  the  works  he  has  commanded ;  for,  what  is  sin- 
gular but  true,  that  which  he  has  enjoined  is  not  the 
accomplishment  of  one  work  more  than  another,  but  the 
accomplishment  of  every  work,  with  a  recognition  of  its 
cause,  and  a  pure  motive.  For  it  is  the  motive,  in  some 
sense,  which  is  the  object  of  the  commandment ;  the  first 
and  great  commandment,  the  summary  of  the  law,  both  for 
Jews  and  Christians,  being  love.  Shall  we  not  add,  then, 
that  a  work  of  God,  or  a  work  worthy  of  God,  ought,  neces- 
sarily to  be  a  work  of  freedom.  And  since  there  is  a  law 
we  have  not  made,  which  binds  us,  willing  or  unwilling,  a 
work  commanded  cannot,  at  the  same  time,  be  a  work  of 
freedom,  but  by  the  intervention  of  love,  which,  to  speak 
correctly,  is  freedom  in  obedience.  We  may  conclude, 
then,  that  the  Jews,  whose  question  was  entertained  by  our 
Saviour,  would  have  addressed  to  him  one  more  worthy  of 
his  approbation,  if,  instead  of  saying,  What  shall  we  do  to 
perform  the  works  of  God?  they  had  said,  Master,  what 
shall  we  do  to  love  God? 

Call  to  your  recollection  that  scribe  who  one  day  said  to 
Jesus  Christ,  "Master,  thou  hast  well  and  truly  said,  that 
there  is  only  one  God,  and  none  other  but  he;  and  to 
love  him  with  all  the  heart,  and  with  all  the  understanding, 
and  with  all  the  soul,  and  with  all  the  strength,  and  to  love 
our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  is  more  than  all  whole  burnt- 
offerings  and  sacrifices."  (Mark  12:  32,33.)  What  do 
you  read  after  these  words  ?  "  Jesus  seeing  that  he  had 
answered  intelligently,  said,  Thou  art  not  far  from  the 


THE    WORK   OP   GOD.  287 

kingdom  of  heaven."  (v.  34.)  Measure  the  force  of  these 
words  in  the  mouth  of  Jesus.  To  be  thus  intelligent,  is 
more  than  all  the  wisdom  of  sages ;  to  be  not  far  from  the 
kingdom  of  God,  is  more  than  all  the  glory  and  magnifi- 
cence of  kings.  Nevertheless,  the  superiority  of  that  man 
is  enclosed  within  two  limits;  if  on  the  one  side  he  is 
separated  from  the  folly  of  the  world,  on  the  other  he  has 
not  yet  seized  that  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved. 
Jesus  Christ  only  said,  that  he  was  not  far  from  it.  But 
this  is  ever  a  sublime  and  glorious  testimony;  and  Jesus 
Christ  would  have  degraded  it,  by  according  it  to  the  Jews 
whose  question  we  are  considering.  Why?  Because  they 
were  not  intelligent,  like  that  scribe ;  because  they  did  not 
appear,  like  him,  to  understand  that  love  is  the  fulfilment 
of  the  law,  and  the  true  secret  of  doing  the  works  of  God. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  why  did  not  Jesus  Christ,  on  the 
latter  occasion,  at  once  say  to  the  Jews,  The  work  of  God 
is  to  love  him,  instead  of  saying,  The  work  of  God  is  to 
believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent?  Why,  he  might  have 
said  both  the  one  and  the  other ;  but  after  having  in  other 
interviews  declared  that  the  means  of  doing  the  works  of 
God  was  to  love  him,  he  went  further  this  time ;  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  very  termination  of  his  idea,  and  of  the  truth, 
and  made  his  hearers  acquainted  with  the  means  of  the 
means  itself,  that  is  to  say,  the  means  of  loving  God.  But 
that  means  is  believing  on  him  whom  God  hath  sent.  To 
say  to  the  Jews  that  they  must  love  God,  would  not  be 
teaching  them,  properly  speaking,  any  thing  new ;  it 
would  only  be  sending  them  back  to  the  most  express  and 
solemn  declarations  of  the  ancient  law.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  himself  cite  that  supreme 
ordinance,  but  drew  it  from  the  mouth  of  his  hearers,  and 
only  appeared  desirous  of  receiving  their  acknowledgments 
respecting  it.  Happy  they,  doubtless,  who,  of  their  own 
accord,  and  by  the  secret  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 


28S  THE   WORK   OF   GOD. 

laid  down  at  his  feet  that  avowal,  so  sweet,  and  yet  so 
formidable!  Jesus  Christ  commended  their  wisdom,  and 
announced  to  them,  that  they  were  not  far  from  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

But  in  this  instance,  omitting  apparently  a  truth  which 
is  to  find  itself  entire  in  the  answer  he  designs,  instead  of 
sending  them  to  love,  sending  them  to  the  source  of  love, 
he  replies  to  them,  in  that  striking  sentence,  "  The  work 
of  God  is  to  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent."  Trans- 
ported to  that  elevation,  they  will  there  infallibly  find  the 
answer  to  their  question,  the  end  of  their  anxiety,  the 
beginning  of  life. 

And  who  is  he  whom  God  hath  sent  ?  What  is  it  to 
believe  on  him  ?  And  what  connection  is  there  between 
that  belief  and  the  love  of  God  ?  What  connection  ?  It 
probably  escapes,  in  the  first  instance,  the  greater  part  of 
the  hearers  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  it  will  not  escape  them 
always,  and  certainly  it  cannot  escape  us.  He  whom  God 
hath  sent  is  his  well-beloved,  his  Son,  his  other-self;  it  is 
himself  in  a  person  like  unto  us ;  a  man,  perfectly  man,  a 
God,  perfectly  God.  To  believe  on  him,  is  not  simply  to 
believe  what  we  have  just  said,  but  to  believe  that  he  hath 
been  sent  to  us,  given  to  us ;  it  is  to  believe  that  the  su- 
preme object  of  the  Father's  love,  he  whose  very  name  of 
Son  worthily  characterizes  his  nature,  the  perfection  of 
glory,  embracing  in  a  boundless  love  the  whole  human 
race,  has  clothed  himself  with  our  mortal  flesh,  in  order  to 
be  our  Redeemer  from  death,  our  Representative,  our  Sure- 
ty and  Intercessor.  Take  away,  by  a  mournful  supposi- 
tion, take  away  Jesus  Christ  from  the  world,  with  his  might 
of  compassion,  and  his  title  of  Saviour,  and  by  consequence, 
replace  humanity  where  Jesus  Christ  found  it,  before  an 
unknown  God,  the  God  of  Sinai,  enveloped  in  thick  clouds, 
penetrated  here  and  there,  only  by  threatening  flashes  of 
lightning ;  or  before  the  God  of  the  philosophers, — power 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  289 

without  personality,  essence  without  feeling,  gulf  of  exis- 
tence, terror  of  the  imagination  and  the  heart ;  or,  finally, 
before  two  closed  gates,  one  of  which  is  the  gate  of  perdi- 
tion, the  other  that  of  annihilation.^  Yes,  replace  human- 

*  It  may  be  thought  singular,  that  the  God  of  the  philosophers  should 
generally  be  an  impersonal  God,  a  God  either  so  spiritual,  or  so  material, 
that  he  cannot  be  separated,  even  in  idea  from  the  universe  he  has  made  j 
a  God  so  infinite,  and  so  creative,  that  without  volition  or  determination 
of  the  will,  he  must  ever  produce  whatever  exists  in  what  we  call  the  cre- 
ation, throwing  off  continually,  as  from  an  exhaustless  centre,  all  beings, 
and  all  modes  of  being;  a  God  so  perfect  and  absolute,  that  he  has,  pro- 
perly speaking,  neither  mind  nor  body,  but  is  all  mind  and  all  body,  and 
not  only  so,  but  blends  and  absorbs  all  finite  existences,  material  and  im- 
material, in  his  own  boundless  essence.  According  to  this  view,  men  and 
angels,  with  all  material  things,  are  but  the  necessary  and  outward  mani- 
festation of  God,  a  part  therefore  of  God,  shadowy  and  imperfect,  and  des- 
tined, in  due  time,  to  return  unto  God.  So  that  He  only  exists  as  the 
infinite  and  eternal  ME,  "  power  without  personality,  essence  without 
feeling,  gulf  of  existence  (gouffre  des  existences),  terror  of  the  imagination 
and  the  heart." 

It  may  be  deemed  singular,  we  say,  that  philosophers  have  generally 
formed  this  conception  of  God,  which,  by  the  way,  is  the  idea  of  the  more 
dreamy  and  speculative  systems  of  pagan  idolatry,  and  easily  harmonizes 
with  the  grossest  superstition,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  deepest  sensualism 
on  the  other.  But  when  we  look  into  the  matter  more  narrowly,  it  will 
not  appear  so  strange,  as  at  the  first  view.  For  those  who  reject  revela- 
tion, necessarily  reject  the  idea  of  an  absolute  creation,  and  a  superintend- 
ing providence,  truths  which  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  correct  theology  ;  and 
hence,  they  plunge  at  once  into  that  ocean  of  difficulties,  where  all  the 
speculations  of  ancient  heathen  philosophy  were  engulfed  and  lost. 
Assuming  the  axiom,  ex  nihilo,  nihil  fit,  "from  nothing,  nothing  is  made," 
which  is  true  in  one  sense,  though  not  in  another,  true  perhaps  in  an  abso- 
lute, but  not  in  a  relative  sense,  that  is  to  say,  true  when  applied  generally, 
but  not  true  in  reference  to  God,  and  the  possibility  of  his  creating  sepa- 
rate substances  or  essences,  whether  minds  or  bodies,  in  a  way  not  ex- 
plained, or  perhaps  capable  of  being  explained  to  us ;  assuming  this,  the 
philosophers  referred  to  make  creation  a  necessary,  and  not  a  voluntary 
act  of  God,  and  represent  matter  as  a  mere  modification  of  himself.  Here 
then  the  distinction  between  God  and  his  creation,  between  spirit  and 
matter,  vanishes,  leaving  but  one  substance,  one  essence  or  being,  in  exis- 
tence, which  may  be  called  God,  Nature,  or  the  Universe,  as  individuals 
may  please.  Dr.  Norton,  in  his  Essay  on  the  Latest  Form  of  infidelity, 
states,  apparently  on  good  authority,  "  that  the  celebrated  Atheist  Spino- 


290  THE    WORK   OF   GOD. 

ity  where  Jesus  Christ  found  it,  and  say  to  that  humanity, 
Love  God,  if  there  be  a  God,  love  him  if  he  be  just,  love 
him  if  he  loves  you  !  From  the  depths  of  those  palpitating 
hearts,  you  will  hear  uttered  a  thousand  anxious  cries, 

za,  composed  the  work  in  which  his  opinions  are  most  fully  unfolded,  in 
the  Dutch  language,  and  committed  it  to  his  friend,  the  physician  Mayer, 
to  translate  into  Latin  3  that,  where  the  name  God  now  appears,  Spinoza 
had  written  Nature  ;  but  that  Mayer  induced  him  to  substitute  the  former 
word  for  the  latter,  in  order  partially  to  screen  himself  from  the  odium  to 
which  he  might  be  exposed." 

Spinoza,  as  all  will  admit,  is  the  father  of  modern  Pantheism,  the  high- 
priest  in  reality  of  transcendental  and  mystical  Atheism.  He  is  much  ad- 
mired by  the  Hegelians,  and  even  by  the  Eclectics,  of  whom  Cousin  is  the 
most  distinguished  representative ;  and  his  works  have  recently  been  re- 
published  and  extensively  circulated  in  Germany  and  France.  In  his 
Posthumous  Ethics,  he  sets  out  with  the  proposition  that  "  there  cannot  be 
two  substances  or  essences'' — that "  substance  is  self-existent  and  infinite," 
and  consequently,  that  there  is  "  but  one  substance,"  which  he  calls  God. 
" By  God,"  says  he,  "I  understand  a  being  absolutely  infinite,  that  is,  a 
substance  consisting  of  infinite  attributes,  every  one  of  which  expresses 
an  infinite  essence."  (See  Posthumous  Ethics,  Schol.  in  Prop.  8.  Schol. 
in  Prop.  10.)  On  this  ground,  God  cannot,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term 
create}  "for  one  substance  cannot  be  produced  by  another  substance." 
Hence,  also,  Spinoza  denies  all  miracles,  taking  the  very  ground  of  Hume, 
that  they  are  impossible  j  and  so  they  are,  if  there  be  no  independent  and 
all-controlling  God.  "  I  will  show  from  Scripture,"  he  says,  impiously 
referring  to  the  word  of  God  for  authority,  just  as  Satan  did  in  a  similar 
instance,  "  that  the  decrees  and  commands  of  God,  and  consequently  his 
providence,  are  nothing  but  the  order  of  nature.  (Tractatus  Theologico 
Politicus,  Cap.  VI, — as  quoted  by  Dr.  Norton  in  his  Latest  Form  of  Infi- 
delity.) Views  similar  to  these  are  taken  by  some  of  our  New  England 
Transcendentalists  j  so  that  R.  W.  Emerson  and  Theodore  Parker  deny 
all  inspiration  and  miracles,  and  though  the  latter  continues  to  preach,  and 
even  to  pray,  the  former  has  wisely  abandoned  both,  as  unphilosophical 
and  useless. 

This,  then,  is  the  God  of  the  philosophers  j  a  God  without  volition,  with- 
out affection,  without  righteousness,  without  even  personality, — a  mere 
idea,  a  transcendental  and  pantheistic  fancy  5  and  not  "  the  Lord  our  God," 
who  is  "  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all,"  the  Father  and  Saviour  of  the 
human  family.  O !  it  is  fearful  to  think,  that  it  is  an  all-controlling  and 
omnipotent  God  that  the  philosophers  reject.  "  We  are  free,"  says  one 
of  them  (Heine  in  the  Kirche-Zeitung,  Feb.,  1839,  quoted  in  the  Biblical 
Repertory),  and  need  no  thundering  tyrant.  We  are  of  age,  and  need  no 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  291 

cries  incessantly  checked.  Yes,  God  loves  us ;  but  what 
if  he  should  not  love  me!  Yes,  God  is  just,  but  if  he  is 
just,  he  is  formidable,  and  how  can  I  love  him ;  and  if  not 
just,  he  is  not  to  be  revered,  and  how  can  I  love  him  ?  God 
exists,  that  is  clearer  than  the  light  of  the  sun ;  God  is 
good,  since  he  is  God ;  but  if  he  is  God,  he  is  holy, — what 
can  I  thence  conclude,  what  can  I  hope  ?  What  does  he 
will  ?  What  has  he  resolved  ?  Can  I  love  him  simply 
because  he  is  worthy  of  love  ?  Can  I  love  him  if  he  does 
not  love  me  ?  Can  I  love  one  who  perhaps  hates  me.  Can 
I  love  in  such  uncertainty  ?  And  must  not  God  first  set 
my  heart  at  liberty,  in  order  that  I  may  run  in  the  way  of 
his  commandments  ? 

I  represent  thoughtful  and  not  frivolous  men  speaking 
thus;  the  latter  perhaps  imagine  they  love  God,  for  the  very 
reason,  perhaps,  quite  obvious  in  their  view,  that  God  is 
worthy  of  love  because  he  is  God.  But  mankind  gener- 
ally are  not  frivolous,  they  are  serious,  and  have  proved 
it.  Their  religions,  opposed  to  the  principle  we  have  re- 
cognized, do  not  bind  man  to  God ;  they  do  not  breathe 
the  spirit  of  love,  they  do  not  inspire  it  nor  propagate  it ; 
they  rather  propagate  dread  of  the  name  of  God,  and  clear- 
ly testify  what,  in  our  present  condition  of  uncertainty  and 
perplexity,  is  our  natural  instinct  and  inevitable  tendency. 
Enough  exists  to  compel  these  presumptuous  men,  at  least 
to  doubt,  whether  it  is  natural  to  love  God.  But  let  them 
retire  within  themselves,  and  interrogate  their  own  thoughts. 
They  speak  of  loving  God ;  but  do  they  know  well  what 
it  is  to  love  God  ?  Do  they  reflect  that  Gfod  requires  that 

fatherly  care.  We  are  not  the  handiwork  of  any  great  mechanic.  Theism 
is  a  religion  for  slaves,  for  children,  for  Genevese,  for  watch-makers." 

Do  we  start  back  with  horror  from  the  God  of  the  philosophers  1  What 
then  1  Are  we  infidels  still  ?  Or  do  we  accept  the  God  of  revelation  ? 
But  he  is  just, — he  punishes  sin,— he  has  concluded  all  in  unbelief.  He 
demands  the  heart,  the  life,  the  all  j  and  how  can  we  give  it,  unless  we  are 
forgiven,  reconciled,  and  born  again  ?  T. 


292  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

he  should  be  loved  as  God.  There  are  terrors,  there  are 
abysses  in  that  single  word ;  a  world  intervenes  between 
their  thoughts  and  the  truth.  That  pagan  philosopher  was 
more  serious  than  they,  and  knew  better  the  real  condition 
of  humanity,  who,  either^  with  indifference  or  grief,  I  know 
not  which,  exclaimed,  "  It  is  impossible  to  love  God !" 

But  is  the  world,  let  them  proceed  to  say,  is  the  world  so 
worthy  of  love,  that  it  ought  rather  than  God  to  possess  our 
heart  ?  Is  the  world  more  attractive  than  God  ? 

If  such  were  the  question  here,  the  intellect  has  already 
decided  it;  but  the  will  does  not  immediately  follow.  The 
intellect  is  prompt,  very  prompt;  it  seizes,  at  a  single 
glance,  eternal  verities  ;  but  the  flesh  is  slow,  and  lingers 
behind.  In  our  present  condition,  we  do  not  need  to  be  told, 
detach  yourselves  from  the  world,  to  be  able  to  love  God ; 
but,  cleave  to  God,  to  be  able  to  detach  yourselves  from  the 
world.  The  attraction  of  the  world  is  always  experienced  ; 
we  feel  it  without  an  effort  of  the  will ;  it  is  in  resisting  it 
that  we  must  use  our  will.  But  the  attraction  of  God,  in  our 
actual  situation,  is  felt  only  by  our  intellect,  and  penetrates 
no  further.  We  must  first  of  all  love  God,  which  depends 
not  on  our  will,  because  we  cannot  love  an  object  in  which 
we  do  not  find  our  happiness.  God  must  first  re  veal  himself 
to  us  as  the  supreme  happiness,  and  not  merely  as  the 
supreme  perfection  and  the  sovereign  law.  Even  then  a 
great  number,  perhaps,  will  not  love  him  ;  but  certain  it  is, 
that  before  knowing  him  in  this  character,  none  will  love 
him;  and  if  any  one  among  men  is  capable  of  loving,  he 
will  love  him  thenceforth  or  never.  He  certainly  will  love 
him  who,  haunted  by  the  recollection  of  his  transgressions, 
overwhelmed  by  the  pressure  of  the  law,  consumed  with 
sorrow  /or  his  lost  inheritance,  hungering  and  thirsting 
for  righteousness,  that  is,  for  God  himself,  when  he  sees 
him  revealed,  with  all  the  characteristics  of  certainty,  as  a 
God  merciful  and  gracious,  a  father,  and  not  a  judge,  nay, 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  293 

more  than  a  father,  as  a  compassionate,  devoted  and  tender 
brother ! 

Either  the  human  heart  is  incapable,  from  its  nature,  of 
feeling  love,  or  that  man  will  feel  it  who,  enveloped  in  igno- 
miny as  a  garment,  has  seen  the  God  of  glory  descending 
even  to  him,  to  seek  him  in  the  depths  of  his  disgrace ; 
who,  from  the  gloom  and  sorrow  in  which  his  conscience 
kept  him  plunged,  has  seen  himsetf  transported  into  a  region 
of  light  and  happiness ;  who,  in  respect  to  himself,  has  seen 
verified  that  amazing  language  of  the  prophet,  "  In  all  their 
afflictions  he  was  afflicted;"  who  has  seen, — O  mystery, 
O  miracle  ! — his  God  travelling  by  his  side,  in  the  rugged 
path  of  life ;  nay,  voluntarily  assuming  the  burden  which 
was  crushing  him  ;  a  God  humbled,  a  God  weeping,  a  God 
anguished,  a  God  dying  !*  That  long  contest,  if  I  may 
dare  to  say  it,  that  agony  of  God  for  generations,  that  pain- 
ful birth,  by  which  humanity  was  brought  forth  to  the  life 
of  heaven,  has  been  revealed  to  him  in  the  ancient  dispen- 
sation; he  has  been  shown  the  very  steps  of  God  impressed 
upon  the  dust  of  ages,  and  mingled  with  the  footprints  of 
the  human  race ;  but  at  the  trace  which  that  God  has  left 

*  The  translator  must  here  take  the  liberty  of  repeating  what  has  been 
already  said  in  a  note  to  the  discourse  on  the  Genius  of  the  Gospel,  p.  98, 
to  which  he  would  refer  his  readers,  and  remind  them  that  where  our 
author  refers  to  God  as  "  weeping,  anguished  and  dying,"  he  refers  to 
"  God  manifest  in  the  flesh/'  in  othej  words,  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  human 
and  divine.  It  is  expressly  said  by  the  prophet,  with  regard  to  the  infinite 
Jehovah  himself,  that,  "  in  all  their  afflictions  he  was  afflicted  5"  and  it 
may  not  be  as  unphilosophical  as  some  persons  imagine,  to  represent  the 
Divine  Mind  as  sympathizing  in  the  profoundest  manner,  with  the  struggles 
and  sufferings  of  humanity.  There  is  deeper  meaning  than  rationalists 
wot  of  in  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will 
one  die ;  peradventure  for  a  good  man  some  would  even  dare  to  die.  But 
God  commendeth  his  love  towards  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners 
Christ  died  for  us."  We  are  said  to  die  when  body  and  spirit  separate  j 
but  the  spirit  does  not  perish.  It  sympathizes  in  the  agony  of  dissolution, 
but  it  lives  on,  as  perfect  as  ever.  So  the  Divinity  in  Jesus  Christ  may 
have  sympathized,  in  a  manner  inexplicable  to  us,  with  the  anguish  of  his 
death,  and  yet  lived  on,  in  immutable  perfection  and  blessedness.  T. 


294  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

on  the  rock  of  Calvary,  the  rock  of  his  heart  is  broken,  the 
veil  of  his  understanding  torn  away ;  and  what  he  could 
never  think  of  without  temerity,  he  thenceforth  conceives 
as  necessary,  that  if  God  has  thus  loved  humanity,  he  ought 
to  love  it  as  God  has  done,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  same 
spirit,  and  in  the  same  manner.  What,  then,  will  he  do  ? 
None  will  ever  love  God,  or  that  man  will  love  him  ;  that 
man  will  never  love  God,  or  he  will  love  him  from  this 
hour.  Who  can  conceive  of  any  means  of  producing  love 
superior  to  this  ?  What  could  God,  yes  God  himself,  do 
more  ?  What  could  he  give,  after  having  given  himself? 
That  man,  then,  has  only  to  believe  in  order  to  love ;  and 
because  he  loves,  the  works  he  will  thenceforth  perform 
shall  be  works  of  God. 

On  this  we  make  two  remarks  ;  firstly,  that  all  the  works 
he  would  have  done,  without  that  love,  will  be  sanctified  by 
means  of  it ;  secondly,  that  he  will  do  works  he  would 
never  have  done  without  it.  For  it  must  be  confessed,  that 
while  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  has  created  no  duty  abso- 
lutely new,  while  all  that  is  binding  since  his  advent  was 
binding  before, — for  God  is  the  God  of  all  times ;  it  is  yet 
certain  that  the  feeling  with  reference  to  our  duties,  and  the 
vivid  conception  of  their  nature,  were  not  the  same  in 
fallen  man  as  they  were  after  God  had  added,  if  I  may  ven- 
ture thus  to  express  myself,  to  his  nature  as  God,  the  nature 
also  of  man.  The  commandment,  then,  according  to  the 
expression  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  old  and  new ;  old  in  itself, 
new  in  us.  The  morality  of  Christians  is  not  like  that  of 
the  men  of  the  world ;  it  is  so  little  like  it,  that  those  who 
frankly  recognize  and  fully  observe  it,  form,  in  the  midst  of 
mankind  in  general,  a  peculiar  race,  and,  as  it  were,  a  new 
order  of  humanity.  It  is  so  little  like  it,  that  those  who  pro- 
fess it  are  inconceivable  to  those  who  do  not  profess  it,  and 
the  most  common  life,  if  in  other  respects  Christian,  fails 
not  to  exhibit,  in  certain  traits,  an  extraordinary  and  mys- 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  295 

terious  principle,  the  name  of  which  no  one  knows  but  he 
who  possesses  it.  (Rev.  19 :  12.)  However  high  the 
capacity  of  the  natural  man  may  be  raised,  there  are  virtues 
which  are  found  only  in  the  practice  of  Christians,  sacri- 
fices of  which  Christians  only  are  capable.  Why  ?  Because 
in  their  very  faith,  in  that  work  of  God  of  which  our  Saviour 
speaks,  is  comprised  a  sacrifice  more  profound,  more  entire 
than  all  others,  a  sacrifice  in  which,  by  anticipation,  all 
others  are  consummated.  Love  which  springs  from  faith  is 
deeper  and  purer,  more  inexhaustible  and  immortal  than  all 
other  love ;  for  while  all  other  love  finds  its  limits  in  the 
nature  of  its  object,  the  love  which  has  God  for  its  object 
will  in  vain  seek  limits  in  that  which  has  none.  We  never 
devote  ourselves,  without  reserve,  to  a  finite  object;  for  what 
finite  object  can  compensate  us  for  the  sacrifice  of  our- 
selves? Must  it  not,  at  the  very  least,  leave  us  glory,  which 
is  approbation  from  without,  or  that  internal  approbation, 
which  is  still  glory?  But  between  God  and  the  creature 
that  loves  him,  there  can  be  no  reserve ;  for  God  is  either 
all  goodness  and  all  glory,  or  he  is  not ;  and  if  he  is  not, 
we  could  not  love  him ;  but  if  he  is,  we  can  sacrifice  our- 
selves, for  there  is  nothing  to  lose  with  him.  What  thence- 
forth can  prevent  us  from  giving  him  every  thing,  and  him 
from  giving  us  back  ourselves  ?  I  have  said  ourselves,  for 
we  are  more  truly  in  him  than  in  ourselves  ;  it  is  no  more 
we  that  live,  but  Christ  that  liveth  in  us;  and  our  life,  to 
use  the  language  of  Paul,  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 


XX. 


THE  WORK  OF  GOD. 

"  Then  said  they  unto  him,  -what  shall  -we  do  that  -we  might  -work 
the  works  of  God?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  this  is  the 
•work  of  God  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent." 

ST.  JOHN  6  :  28,  29. 

SECOND  DISCOURSE. 

WE  have  said  enough  to  the  Jews,  enough  to  that 
numerous  class  who  persist  in  seeking  the  foundation  of 
their  hope  in  works.  Let  us  now  turn  to  Christians,  and, 
after  having  shown  that  the  condition  of  life  and  salvation 
is  found  only  in  faith,  let  us  endeavor  to  prove  that  this 
faith  is  a  work.  But  this  word  suggests  a  difficulty  at 
once. 

And  when,  it  will  be  said  to  us,  did  believing  become  a 
labor ;  when  did  it  become  a  work  ?  Do  we  not  every  day 
hear  these  two  terms,  believing  and  acting,  opposed  to 
each  other?  Do  we  not  continually  hear  you  speaking  of 
men  who  believe,  and  do  not  act?  And  when  St.  Paul 
tells  us  that  man  is  saved  by  faith  and  not  by  works,  and 
St.  James  declares  that  faith  without  works^  is  dead,  do 
not  these  two  apostles  make  works  and  faith  entirely  dis- 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  297 

tinct  ?  *  Besides,  who,  when  asked  respecting  the  nature  of 
faith,  will  call  it  an  action,  and  not  rather  a  disposition  or 
state  of  the  mind  ?  We  say  an  involuntary  state,  since,  if 
it  depends  upon  us  to  examine  or  not  to  examine  before 
believing,  to  act  or  not  to  act  after  having  believed,  it  does 
not  absolutely  depend  on  us  to  believe  or  not  to  believe. 
Some  one  may  propose  to  prove  to  me  that  a  certain  sub- 
stance is  the  remedy  for  a  certain  disease  with  which  I  am 
affected.  I  may  refuse  my  attention  to  the  proofs  of  that 
truth,  and  such  refusal  is  a  voluntary  act.  I  may  consent 
to  hear  them,  and  such  consent  is  also  a  voluntary  act.  In 
fine,  after  having  permitted  myself  to  be  convinced,  I  may 
use  or  not  use  the  remedy,  the  efficiency  of  which  has 
been  proved  to  me,  and  there,  again,  I  will  and  act.  But  to 
believe  or  not  believe  in  proofs  communicated  to  me,  is  a 
thing  in  which  my  will  has  no  part.  It  is  a  fact  and  not 
an  action.  And  if  it  is  sometimes  said  that  such  an  one 
would  not  believe,  what  is  this  but  saying  that  he  could 
not,  or  rather  that  he  would  not  listen  to  his  reason  and 
his  conscience,  which  would  have  compelled  him  to  be- 
lieve ?  Why,  then,  has  Jesus  Christ  said  that  "  the  work 
of  God  is  believing,"  which  is  precisely  the  same  thing  as 
saying,  that  believing  is  a  work,  that  it  is  a  determination 
of  a  will  ? 

Such  is  the  difficulty  we  propose  to  remove.  We  might 
confine  ourselves  to  a  single  reply,  and  it  would  be  per- 
emptory; for  if  faith  is  not  a  work,  how  could  it  be  com- 

*  Let  no  one  take  exception  to  this  discourse  from  the  peculiar  use  the 
author  makes  of  the  term,  "  work."  By  this  he  simply  means  a  voluntary 
act,  and  hence  he  insists  that  the  exercise  of  faith,  involving,  as  it  does, 
an  act  of  volition  and  affection,  is  a  real  work.  This  position  he  sustains 
beyond  the  possibility  of  refutation.  But  he  rejects  as  heartily  as  the 
most  rigid  Calvinist  could  desire,  the  idea  that  faith  is  a  legal  work,  or  in 
any  sense  a  work  of  merit,  on  the  ground  of  which  a  sinner  might  claim 
salvation  as  a  right.  Indeed  he  maintains  that  it  is  just  the  opposite,  and 
involves  a  renunciation  of  all  merit.  T. 

25* 


298  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

manded  :  and  if  commanded,  why  is  it  not  a  work?  Who 
would  think  of  commanding  any  thing  which  did  not 
depend  upon  the  will?  But  this  reply  would  only  reduce 
to  silence  those  who  may  have  provoked  it ;  that  is  all.  At 
bottom  it  does  not  edify,  and  we  wish  to  edify.  For  this 
purpose  we  go  further  into  the  matter,  and  say,  without 
fear,  taking  our  departure  from  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  that  the  faith  which  is  not  a  work  cannot  be 
imputed  to  us,  cannot  absolutely  save  us.* 

On  this  point  we  appeal  to  the  consciousness  of  all. 
We  do,  as  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  does, 
when  he  exclaims,  "  It  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  goats  should  take  away  sin."  (Heb.  10:  4.)  Does 
he  reason,  or  invoke  any  external  testimony?  No,  he 
simply  affirms;  "it  is  impossible,"  is  his  language.  It  is  a 
self-evident  truth,  written  in  the  consciousness  of  every 
man,  which  none  would  venture  to  dispute.  And  we,  too, 
after  his  example,  say  it  is  impossible  that  what  is  not  right- 
eousness should  be  imputed  as  righteousness.  It  is  impos- 
sible that  an  involuntary  act  should  become  the  condition  of 
salvation.  It  is  impossible  that  a  pure  and  simple  acqui- 
escence in  proofs  should  bear  the  slightest  relation  to  the 
possession  of  celestial  happiness  and  the  enjoyment  of  God 
himself.  It  is  impossible  that  God  should  ever  have  said, 
"  Believe  in  any  way  and  in  any  spirit  that  Jesus  Christ  is 

*  The  author  would  willingly  say  that  faith,  irrespective  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  is  nothing.  But  it  is  the  glory  of  this  act  of  the  soul, 
that  it  makes  the  righteousness  of  Christ  its  own.  It  does  not  passively 
receive  it,  or  acquiesce  in  it,  but  embraces  it,  with  a  strong  and  tender 
affection,  and  by  this  means  incorporates  it  into  its  own  nature.  It  is  thus 
not  merely  a  voluntary,  but  a  holy  act.  This,  and  this  only,  is  the  faith 
that  justifies,  and  which  is  imputed  to  us  for  righteousness.  Without  it 
no  one  can  be  saved,  on  which  ground  it  may  properly  be  styled  the  con- 
dition of  salvation.  It  is  not,  however,  a  meritorious,  but  a  natural  con- 
dition. The  righteousness  of  Christ  is  "  unto  and  upon  all  them  that 
believe,"  and  upon  them  only.  See  the  author's  note  at  the  close  of  the 
discourse,  T. 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  299 

he  whom  I  have  sent,  and  that  belief  shall  secure  your 
everlasting  life." 

We  say  that  such  a  thing  is  impossible,  because  it  is 
written,  on  the  one  hand,  that  we  are  justified  by  faith, 
and  on  the  other,  that  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord.  But  in  order  that  these  two  declarations  should 
not  contradict  each  other,  it  is  necessary  that  holiness 
should  be  included  in  faith  in  the  same  manner  that  a 
plant  is  included  in  its  germ ;  in  other  words,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  faith  should  be  sanctifying.  But  how  should  it 
be  so,  if  we  receive  it  only  by  the  intellect,  and  not  by  the 
heart,  or  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  indifference,  provided  we 
believed  in  some  way  or  another?  In  such  a  case,  faith 
would  not  justify  by  making  us  holy,  but  without  any  such 
influence;  it  would  justify  whatever  were  its  object.  Faith 
in  the  earth's  rotundity  would  be  as  beneficial  as  faith  in 
Christ  crucified.  The  former,  it  is  evident,  has  no  relation 
to  the  heart,  does  not  affect  the  conscience,  puts  in  motion 
none  of  our  moral  forces,  leaves  the  whole  interior  man  in 
a  state  of  slumber.  But  that  makes  no  difference;  for, 
according  to  the  system  in  question,  it  is  the  mere  abstract 
fact  of  faith,  and  not  its  object,  which  saves  us ;  and  the 
former  of  these  objects  is  entirely  suitable  for  such  a  pur- 
pose. But  if  faith  does  not  justify  except  when  it  sanctifies, 
it  justifies  by  virtue  of  its  object;  and  if  that  object  does 
not  sanctify,  except  so  far  as  we  submit  to  it  not  only  our 
intellect,  but  our  heart,  conscience  and  will,  in  a  word,  all 
in  us  that  is  free,  then  assuredly  is  faith  a  work. 

It  will  probably  be  said,  that  the  object  of  Christian  faith 
is  such  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  without  feeling,  in 
some  degree,  the  virtue  inherent  in  that  object.  We  reply, 
alas,  no,  it  is  not  impossible.  We  do  not  undervalue  that 
virtue,  and  we  are  willing  to  suppose  that  a  goodly  number 
of  those  to  whom  it  has  been  given,  without  effort  or 
examination,  to  believe,  are,  from  that  moment,  born  to  a 


300  THE   WORK   OF   GOD. 

new  life.  And  what  is  this  but  to  say  that  faith  has 
become  a  work  in  them,  what,  indeed,  we  claim  it  should 
be  to  produce  the  fruit  of  salvation  ?  But  how  many  there 
are  who  in  their  souls  have  not  submitted  to  that  necessary 
process  !  How  many  there  are  to  whom  Jesus  Christ  has 
been  presented  and  demonstrated,  but  who  have  not 
believed,  because,  in  a  certain  sense,  they  would  not  be- 
lieve, or  to  speak  more  accurately,  would  not  examine  the 
arguments  and  facts,  which  might  have  compelled  them  to 
believe.  A  work  preceding  faith,  or  a  work  in  the  act  of 
faith  itself,  work,  action,  volition,  in  one  respect  or  another ; 
we  cannot  withdraw  faith  from  that  condition,  we  cannot 
divest  ourselves  of  that  necessity. 

We  are  here  reminded,  that  the  faith  of  Abraham  was 
imputed  to  him  for  righteousness.  But  what  was  it  in 
reality,  that  was  thus  imputed  to  him  ?  Was  it  his  having 
believed  that  God  who  had  appeared  to  him  with  the  irre- 
sistible proofs  of  his  divinity,  was  truly  God  ?  There  was 
no  choice  in  that,  consequently,  no  righteousness.  Will 
you  then  impute  to  the  Hebrews  as  righteousness,  their 
having  believed  that  the  manna  which  fell  from  heaven  in 
the  desert,  that  the  cloud,  at  once  luminous  and  dark,  which 
went  before  them,  that  the  sea  elevating  its  waves  like 
walls,  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  attested  the  pres- 
ence and  protection  of  God  ?  That  were  to  confound,  in* 
both  of  these  cases,  faith  with  vision.  No,  faith,  on  the 
part  of  Abraham,  begins  at  the  moment,  when,  through  a 
visible  sign,  he  believes  in  the  invisible ;  at  the  moment, 
when  he  goes  under  the  command  of  God,  to  meet  the  un- 
known, the  uncertain,  nay  more,  the  impossible ;  for  what 
more  impossible  than  to  immolate  his  own  son.  In  these 
cases,  there  was  no  faith  without  previous  sight ;  but  sub- 
sequently to  believe  without  seeing,  because  sight  had  been 
enjoyed,  to  oppose  the  word  of  God  to  the  most  appalling, 
the  most  overwhelming  appearances,  to  advance  with 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  301 

assured  step,  in  the  night,  to  plant  a  firm  foot  in  the  void, 
— is  that  a  state  or  a  work  ?  Is  that  to  act,  or  only  to  be- 
lieve ?  To  believe  in  this  manner,  is  it  not  to  obey  ?  Yes,- 
faith  is  the  internal  obedience  of  the  conscience  and  the 
will.  The  faith  of  Abraham  was  then  a  work,  and  this 
was  the  reason  why  it  could  be  imputed  to  him  for  right- 
eousness. 

To  yield  to  proofs  and  authorities,  which  it  would  be 
impossible,  even  if  we  desired  it,  to  resist,  is  not  to  believe, 
but  to  see ;  it  is  to  be  forced,  like  Abraham,  to  recognize 
the  voice  of  God  in  the  vision,  or  like  the  Hebrews,  the 
presence  of  God  in  the  cloud.  What  in  such  a  case,  could 
be  imputed  to  our  will,  is  having  given  attention,  if,  indeed 
we  have  done  so,  but  not  our  having  seen.  Faith  does  not 
begin,  except  where  volition  begins,  where  the  heart  per- 
forms a  part,  where,  in  a  word,  there  is  action.  Faith  is 
then  a  work,  or  it  is  nothing.  But  every  one  understands 
how  faith,  that  is,  such  a  faith,  can  be  imputed  for  right- 
eousness, but  no  one  can  comprehend  how  a  simple  state,  by 
whatever  name  it  may  be  called,  can  ever  be  designated  as 
righteousness  or  unrighteousness ;  for  righteousness  is  the 
will  in  order,  unrighteousness  is  the  will  in  disorder ;  it  is 
ever  the  will,  at  least,  in  its  internal  action. 

And  let  no  one  say  that  the  question  turns  on  compre- 
hending or  not  comprehending.  Such  an  idea  may  find 
its  application  in  other  circumstances,  but  it  has  nothing  to 
do  here.  We  affirm  that  the  question  does  turn  upon  com- 
prehending, and  that  this  is  one  of  the  things  which  no  one 
can  believe  without  comprehending.  I  acknowledge,  if 
religion  were  composed  only  of  things  comprehensible,  it 
could  not  be  the  true  religion ;  but  neither  would  it  be  such 
if  it  were  composed  only  of  things  incomprehensible ;  for 
religion  is  a  virtue,  it  is  a  duty,  or  it  is  nothing ;  but  where 
can  there  be  a  virtue  without  conscience,  a  duty  without 
thought?  Let  every  thing  else  in  religion  be  incompre- 


302  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

hensible,  this  at  least,  cannot  be  such.  Good  cannot  be 
good,  nor  can  evil  be  evil,  unless  I  recognize  it  as  such. 
Take  away  this,  and  the  very  name  of  religion  vanishes, 
nothing  but  fatality  remains.  Religion,  it  is  true,  must 
bind  me  to  God,  but  through  my  convictions,  through  the 
acknowledgement  of  my  conscience.  Whatever  binds  me 
to  God  in  any  other  way,  is  not  religion,  otherwise  the 
animal  abandoned  to  his  instinct,  the  tree  that  bends  under 
the  wind,  the  star  which  revolves  in  the  heavens,  would 
possess  religion  as  much  as  I,  would,  in  fact,  be  religious 
beings.  If  there  is  any  thing  in  religion  I  ought  to  compre- 
hend, it  is  assuredly  the  duty  which  stands  at  the  head  of 
all  my  other  duties,  and  gives  birth  to  them  all. 

So  far  from  regretting,  that  faith  is  represented  as  a 
work,  I  would  rejoice  at  it.  I  would  lay  it  down  as  a  prin- 
ciple, that  faith  in  him  whom  God  hath  sent,  in  order  to  be 
imputed  as  righteousness,  must  be  a  work,  or,  that  it  may 
become  such,  and  consequently  would  seek  to  discover  how 
much  of  volition  it  includes  or  develops. 

And  to  begin  prior  to  the  exercise  of  faith,  or  to  the  mo- 
ment when  we  believe,  let  us  acknowledge,  that  it  is  even 
here  a  work,  a  good  work,  to  examine  an  object  of  belief, 
when  it  is  presented  or  proposed  to  us  by  persons  worthy 
of  respect,  when  it  concerns  our  souls  and  God,  that  is  to 
say,  what  is  greatest  in  man,  and  greatest  above  man,  in  a 
word,  when  it  has  for  its  end  our  supreme  interest,  I  mean 
our  relations  to  God,  and  our  eternal  state.  He,  who  in 
such  a  case,  refuses  to  examine,  does  a  work,  and  that  work 
is  bad ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  who  examines,  also  does  a 
work,  and  that  work  is  good  ;  he  does  not  yet  believe,  but 
he  has  acted ;  work  has  preceded  faith.  Let  us  suppose 
him  no  longer  an  unbeliever,  or  a  doubter,  but  a  man  who 
believes.  He  holds  for  true,  and  we  shall  not  inquire  how 
he  has  been  led  to  do  so,  that  God  has  sent  his  Son  into 
the  world  to  save  sinners.  That,  I  allow,  may  be  a  faith 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  303 

of  the  intellect,  and  of  the  head.  It  may  be  that  this  man 
has  adopted  that  creed,  either  on  hearsays  or  proofs,  as 
he  might  have  adopted  one  just  the  opposite,  without  feel- 
ing an  interest  in  its  contents  ;  in  the  same  manner  that  he 
has  admitted,  from  arguments  to  which  he  could  not  reply, 
that  the  earth  is  a  globe,  and  that  it  revolves  around  the 
sun.  Such  a  condition  of  mind,  is  certainly  difficult  to 
conceive  in  a  man,  whom  a  serious  interest  in  the  concerns 
of  his  soul  has  induced  to  examine  that  great  question  ;  for 
if  his  examination  has  been  earnest,  will  not  his  faith  also 
be  earnest  ?  After  all,  such  a  condition  is  possible,  it  is  to 
be  met  with ;  and  there  are  not  wanting  persons,  either 
perfectly  indifferent  to  the  character  and  contents  of  the 
religion  they  profess,  or  who  adopt  the  doctrine  of  salvation, 
as  one  upon  the  whole,  agreeable  and  proper.  If  there  are 
those  who  believe  in  this  way,  and  would  to  God  it  were  a 
mere  supposition,  their  faith  can  have  no  more  moral  value 
than  that  of  the  man  who  believes  in  the  roundness  of  the 
earth  and  its  circular  motion  about  the  sun ;  and  since  the 
human  mind  absolutely  refuses  to  admit  that  a  faith  with- 
out any  moral  quality,  can  be  the  condition  of  salvation 
these  two  classes  of  men  are,  in  reference  to  their  salva- 
tion, on  the  same  level,  and  in  the  same  situation  ;  and  it 
appears  no  more  absurd  to  say  that  one  man  will  be  saved 
for  believing  in  the  astronomical  truth  to  which  we  have 
referred,  than  to  pretend  that  he  will  be  saved  for  having 
believed,  with  all  the  power  of  his  intellect,  in  the  truth  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  first  of 
these  beliefs  is  morally  as  valuable  as  the  other ;  and  if  in 
any  respect  the  second  even  somewhat  excels  the  other, 
it  is,  perhaps,  because  its  object  is  more  inconceivable. 
How  many  persons  do  we  see,  especially  in  the  church  of 
Rome,  who  make  the  merit  of  faith  to  reside  in  believing 
what  is  difficult,  so  that  the  more  incredible  the  things 
which  they  believe,  the  greater  is  their  faith,  and  the  better 
their  title  to  salvation. 


304  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

But  if  there  are  many  who  believe  thus,  there  are  those 
who,  receiving  the  same  truth,  believe  it  very  differently. 
In  their  case,  to  believe  in  salvation  by  grace  is  to  consent 
to  be  saved  by  grace,  whether  that  consent  accompany  or 
follow,  or  has  even  preceded  belief,  properly  speaking. 
What  is  certain  in  this  case  is,  that  belief  unless  associated 
with  the  consent  of  the  heart  and  of  the  will,  is  only  a  mere 
belief,  and  by  no  means  faith.  Such  consent  is  the  essen- 
tial, the  capital  element  in  faith ;  so  that  if  any  one,  without 
a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  had  felt  his  need  of  a  Saviour, 
had  sought  after  him,  and,  so  to  speak,  had  eventually 
accepted  him,  he  would  possess  the  essential  conditions  of 
true  faith,  and  would  receive  the  benefit  of  it.^  Thus  the 
distinct  belief  in  the  Mystery  of  godliness,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
only  a  belief,  may  remain  without  effect  in  the  case  of  him 
who  possesses  it ;  while  the  disposition  of  heart  which 
would  receive  Jesus  Christ,  were  he  known,  may  have  all 
the  characteristics  and  all  the  value  of  real  faith ;  for  the 
latter  is  a  work,  and  the  former  is  not. 

This  is  a  work  assuredly,  and  because  it  is  a  work,  it  is 
a  work  of  God.  What,  in  fact,  is  included  in  such  a  belief? 
If  what  it  includes  does  not  characterize  it  as  a  work  of 
God,  no  human  work  can  merit  that  name.  Indeed,  what 
must  join  itself  to  every  other  work  to  make  it  a  work 
of  God,  forms  the  very  foundation  of  this.  There  is  a  mys- 
terious salt,  without  which  every  work  becomes  corrupted ; 
well,  the  work  of  which  we  are  speaking,  is  precisely  that 
mysterious  and  preservative  salt.  What  is  it  that  corrupts  all 
our  works  ?  Pride  and  self-righteousness ;  pride,  which  per- 
suades us  that  our  own  personal  powers  are  sufficient  for  the 
task  imposed  on  us  ;  self-righteousness,  which  ascribes  the 
merit  of  them  to  ourselves,  and  robs  God  of  it ;  I  say,  pride 

*  This  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  supposition  or  hypothesis,  for  the  sake  of 
argument  and  illustration.  Still  such  a  case  may  actually  exist.  Who 
shall  set  limits  to  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  or  the  compassion  of  God  ? 

T. 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD.  305 

and  self-righteousness,  which  prevent  us  from  believing  that 
we  need  God's  favor,  and  are  dependent  upon  his  grace, 
make  of  each  man  his  own  God,  and  erect  an  altar  to  him 
in  his  own  heart.  Such  is  the  concealed  atheism  of  every 
man,  before  the  grace  of  God  has  opened  his  eyes.  It  is 
this  which  mingles  itself  with  all  our  works,  and  even  with 
all  our  religious  acts.  Such  is  the  atheism  of  many  pre- 
tended Christians,  less  Christians,  perhaps,  on  that  account, 
than  many  pagans.  But  we  ask,  once  more,  what  does  the 
faith  in  him  whom  God  hath  sent,  include  ?  What  does  it 
suppose,  if  not  the  complete  renunciation  of  our  pretensions, 
the  acknowledgment  of  our  state  of  guilt  and  condemnation, 
the  confession  of  our  inability  to  save  ourselves,  the  solemn 
abdication  of  our  merits,  an  entire  resignation  of  ourselves 
to  the  true  author  of  our  salvation ;  in  a  word,  God  put  into 
his  own  place,  and  we  into  ours,  God  on  the  throne,  and  we 
in  the  dust?  Is  believing  in  this  way  not  doing  a  work,  the 
first,  the  most  indispensable  of  works,  the  work  which  is  the 
source  of  all  other  works,  in  a  word,  the  work  of  works? 
And  are  we  not  justified  in  claiming,  that  if  this  is  a  work, 
it  is  also,  and  for  the  same  reason,  a  work  of  God? 

But  this  is  not  merely  a  work,  it  is  a  labor,  an  effort. 
Suppose  one  of  two  cases.  Suppose  that  the  soul  is  thus 
stripped  before  or  after  believing,  no  matter  which,  it  is 
necessary  in  every  case  that  this  self-renunciation  should 
take  place  voluntarily ;  and  after  as  well  as  before,  before 
as  well  as  after,  it  is  an  act  of  the  will.  It  is  not  necessa- 
rily comprised  in  mere  belief,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow 
it ;  and  since  in  reality,  to  speak  with  exactness,  it  may  be 
accomplished  by  one  who  has  not  yet  believed,  so  may  one 
believe  without  having  accomplished  it.^  Whether  it  be 

*  The  author  here  evidently  speaks  of  a  formal  belief,  in  which  there  is 
necessarily  no  act  of  self-renunciation.  This,  therefore,  may  precede  or 
followBuch  a  belief.  It  may  be  accomplished  with  or  without  it. 

T. 

26 


306  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

before  or  after  the  possession  of  certainty,  it  is  a  special 
task,  as  painful  as  it  is  indispensable.  To  strip  ourselves, 
under  the  hand  of  God,  of  all  self-righteousness  and  self- 
confidence,  and  acknowledge  ourselves  sinners  and  undone, 
will  cost  the  flesh  a  combat  more  or  less  long,  more  or  less 
sanguinary.  The  victory  is  so  difficult,  secured  by  means 
so  foreign  to  us,  and  in  a  way  so  mysterious,  that  no  one 
who  has  gained  it  would  be  unwilling  to  declare  that  to  him 
faith  is  a  work  of  God  in  every  sense  of  the  term,  that  is 
to  say,  the  action  of  God  in  and  by  his  own. 

It  is  thus  we  may  comprehend  how  faith  is  commanded 
as  a  work,  and  presented  as  a  duty, — I  acknowledge  as  the 
most  difficult  of  duties.  But  some  one,  for  want  of  reflec- 
tion, may  say,  Why  is  the  most  difficult  at  the  commence- 
ment? To  which  we  reply,  Why  should  not  the  most 
difficult  be  at  the  commencement  ?  What  earnest  work  is 
there  of  which  the  first  steps  are  not  the  most  difficult? 
But  why  do  we  speak  here  of  a  commencement  1  as  if  there 
were  in  reality  any  thing  beyond  it;  and  as  if  this  were  not 
the  only  work,  and  all  others  but  the  simple  consequences  or 
applications  of  it;  as  if  any  work  could  be  done  independent 
of  this  first  work;  as  if  any  work,  separated  from  this  fun- 
damental one,  were  not  as  difficult  as  itself;  as  if  each 
particular  work  did  not  include  that  work  of  God,  spoken 
of  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  if  it  were  not  necessarily  present 
in  every  true  work  of  God  ?  For  there  is  only  one  alter- 
native ;  either  your  works  are  done  in  the  spirit  of  pride 
and  self-righteousness, — and  such,  I  admit,  are  less  difficult 
than  those  my  text  proposes  to  you, — or,  on  the  other  hand, 
you  must  allow  that  they  are  works  of  God,  and  therefore 
contain  the  great  work  of  which  my  text  speaks,  that  is,  the 
entire  renunciation  of  the  natural  man ;  and  if  they  contain 
it,  how  can  they  be  said  to  be  less  difficult  ?  They  are  that 
very  work  under  different  forms,  and  with  different  applica- 
tions. Jesus  Christ  has  truly  said,  that  there  is  in  reality 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  307 

only  one  work,  which  is,  from  the  heart  to  believe  on  Him 
whom  God  hath  sent. 

We  have  said  that  the  first  act  or  work  which  is  included 
in  a  true  faith,  is  an  internal  self-renunciation,  a  voluntary 
substitution  of  the  righteousness  and  power  of  God  for  our 
own  power  and  righteousness ;  for  we  cannot  really  put  on 
Christ,  without  first  stripping  off  self.  But  is  there  not 
something  more  in  faith  ?  Faith  embraces  Jesus  Christ,  in 
his  entire  character.  But  Jesus  Christ  is  at  once  the  most 
absolute  grace  and  the  most  perfect  law ;  so  that  to  believe 
in  him  is  to  embrace  a  grace  and  a  law.  And  by  what 
name  but  that  of  faith  do  you  call  that  confidence,  with 
which  the  Christian  accepts  "the  law  from  his  Saviour, 
whatever  may  be  the  difficulty,  or  the  danger  connected 
with  it,  and  that,  too,  simply  because  it  is  the  law  of  his 
Saviour?  Those  commandments  which  revolt  the  flesh  he 
accepts ;  those  sacrifices  to  which  he  sees  no  limits,  he 
adopts ;  those^combats  which  form  a  part  of  his  profession, 
he  anticipates ;  and  those  difficulties,  to  which  he  would 
have  hitherto  yielded,  he  meets,  even  at  the  moment  when 
he  has  a  more  profound  and  vivid  sense  than  ever  of  his 
personal  weakness.  Is  there,  in  one  of  the  dogmas  he  has 
accepted,  any  thing  more  mysterious  than  this  obedience, 
in  some  sense,  supernatural  ?  Is  there  in  grace  any  thing 
more  obscure  than  the  law,  I  mean  the  law  as  he  under- 
stands it,  and  thenceforth  accepts  ?  Where  are  the  powers  at 
his  disposal  ?  Where  will  he  find  the  means  to  be  used,  in 
such  a  case  ?  What  miraculous  bridge  will  be.  stretched 
between  his  duty  and  its  accomplishment  ?  He  does  not 
see,  but  he  hopes.  For  if  faith  be  what  it  is  styled  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  a  vivid  representation  of  things 
hoped  for,  a  demonstration  of  things  not  seen,  is  that  confi- 
dence he  feels  in  his  Surety  faith,  or  is  it  not  ?  Why  do 
I  speak  of  hope  ?  Before  even  hoping,  he  must  decide ; 
before  believing  in  victory,  he  must  believe  in  duty ;  he 


308  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

embraces  it  with  closed  eyes ;  he  cleaves,  in  duty,  to  what 
he  loves  the  least ;  and  thus  he  better  recognizes  his  natural 
vocation,  which  is  to  combat  and  sacrifice  self.  But  what 
is  believing  in  this  way,  except  to  perform  an  act  of  will? 
What  is  such  a  faith  but  a  work  in  all  the  force  of  the  term, 
and  a  work  which  does  not  differ  from  others,  except  that 
it  is  done  in  the  solitude  of  the  heart,  and  with  God  only 
for  a  witness  ? 

Let  us  resume.  We  have  supposed  a  man  who,  seri- 
ously penetrated  with  the  interests  of  his  soul,  and  the 
great  importance  of  eternal  things,  examines  before  believ- 
ing,— which  is  itself  a  work :  a  man  who,  in  submitting 
his  mind  to  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  consents  to  the  humil- 
iation they  require,  and  the  self-sacrifice  they  impose, — 
which  also  is  a  work ;  a  man,  in  fine,  who,  in  advance, 
voluntarily  embraces  all  the  consequences  of  grace,  that  is, 
all  the  duties  of  the  Christian  life, — and  this,  furthermore, 
has  the  character  of  a  work.  What  are  all  these  com- 
bined? Faith.  What,  indeed,  is  faith  without  them? 
What  is  faith,  reduced  to  an  intellectual  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  the  gospel,  but  a  naked  acceptance  of  salvation  as 
salvation  ?  Is  this  still  faith  ?  If  so,  we  should  be  justified 
in  saying  that  there  are  two  faiths  which  equally  justify, 
equally  save ;  which  is  the  same  thing  as  to  say,  that 
salvation  is  to  be  had  at  two  unequal  prices,  and  on  two 
different  conditions.  In  the  case  of  one,  on  condition 
of  believing,  upon  any  authority,  that  a  certain  fact  has 
taken  place ;  in  that  of  others,  on  condition  of  having 
chosen  the  truth,  having  submitted  to  it  their  heart  as  well 
as  intellect,  and  having  transferred  to  God  entirely  the 
confidence  they  had  in  themselves.  The  first  of  these 
acts,  in  which  the  heart  has  nothing  to  do,  is  imputed  for 
righteousness ;  the  second,  in  which  it  bears  so  great  a 
part,  is  also  equally  imputed  for  righteousness.  The  faith 
which  does  not  depend  upon  the  will  is  commanded,  as 


THE    WORK   OF    GOD.  309 

well  as  that  of  which  the  will  is  the  organ.  Faith  passive 
and  servile  has  the  same  value  as  faith  active  and  free ; 
consequently  the  obedience  of  servitude  is  equal,  in  moral 
worth,  to  the  obedience  of  freedom ;  knowledge  is  equal  to 
love ;  the  fact  to  the  action.  We  do  not  accept  this  doctrine, 
because  we  find  it  neither  in  our  conscience  nor  in  the 
gospel.  We  acknowledge  that  every  beginning  of  what  is 
right  is  good,  in  the  hands  of  God ;  that  passive  and  ser- 
vile faith  may  become  one  that  is  active  and  free.  But 
until  this  is  the  case,  we  claim  that  it  is  not  faith,  at  least 
not  living  faith ;  and  not  merely  because  faith  without  works 
is  dead,  but  because  the  faith,  which  is  not  a  work,  is  dead. 
We  confess  that  we  feel  ourselves  well  fortified,  with 
such  a  view,  against  the  objections  of  skeptics,  who,  for 
ages,  have  declared  themselves  scandalized  with  a  doctrine 
which  seems  to  absolve  man  from  the  necessity  of  being 
virtuous,  and  even  of  using  his  will,  because  it  imposes 
upon  him,  as  the  only  condition  of  salvation,  a  mere  opin- 
ion of  the  intellect.  Shall  we  be  equally  fortified  against 
the  objections  of  Christians,  those  we  mean  who  understand 
differently  from  us  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  ?  It 
will  be  left  for  you  to  judge. 

Perhaps  they  will  say  to  us,  at  the  outset,  the  language 
of  the  gospel  is  more  simple  than  yours.  It  does  not  say 
to  us,  Believe  in  such  a  manner ;  but,  Believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shall  be  saved.  And  if  it  speak  so, 
what  then  ?  What  does  that  make  against  our  position  ? 
How  does  it  prove  that  the  object  of  faith  is  every  thing, 
and  its  nature  nothing?  It  is,  doubtless,  necessary,  in 
order  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  faith,  to  believe  in  its  object. 
It  will,  also,  frequently  happen,  that  he  who  has  believed, 
no  matter  how,  will  not  remain  there.  His  faith  in  a  mat- 
ter of  so  great  importance  as  salvation  by  grace,  will  not 
leave  him  always  indifferent.  As  many  others  have  set 
out  from  the  conviction  of  their  misery  to  embrace  with 
26* 


310  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

ardor  the  promise  of  that  redemption,  the  contemplation 
of  so  great  a  blessing  will  lead  him,  also,  to  feel,  what 
without  it  he  never  would  have  felt,  his  misery  and  his 
guilt.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  then,  it  is  already  much 
to  have  believed  by  the  intellect  or  by  the  heart,  with  or 
without  the  concurrence  of  the  will.  We  do  not  deny  this ; 
and  certainly  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  knows  what  is  in  the  soul,  and  what  reaction  the 
unexpected  offer  of  salvation  may  exert  upon  the  conscience, 
has  said,  by  the  mouth  of  the  apostles  and  of  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  believe,  only  believe,  and  ye  shall  be  saved.  But 
would  this  be  saying,  that  faith  of  any  kind  would,  in 
reality,  be  imputed  for  righteousness  ?  Who  will  dare  to 
claim  it  ?  And  can  it  be  that  on  the  nature  of  faith,  the 
gospel  says  nothing  more  than  this,  and  never  makes  it  a 
work?  We  will  not  repeat  what  we  have  already  said, 
that  what  is  not  a  work,  and  does  not  spring  from  the  will, 
could  not  be  commanded.  We  will  not  avail  ourselves  of 
our  text,  where  faith  in  him  whom  God  hath  sent  is 
expressly  called  a  work.  But  how  many  passages  in  the 
gospel  directly  or  indirectly  establish  this  truth.  And  to 
confine  ourselves  only  to  one,  which,  by  way  of  analogy, 
will  suggest  a  host  of  others,  what  do  you  think  of  those 
persons  who  are  represented  as  receiving  the  word  into 
good  and  honest  hearts  ?  What  is  that  good  and  honest 
heart,  if  not  a  heart  sincere  and  earnest  ?  And  if  such, 
according  to  our  Lord,  is  the  only  soil  which  bears  fruit, 
how  can  we  doubt  that  faith,  planted  in  the  intellect  only, 
should  be  a  faith  sterile  and  dead  ? 

But  faith,  it  is  said,  is  the  work  of  God,  and  we  make  it 
the  work  of  man;  it  is  a  grace,  and  we  make  it  a  merit; 
and  thus  attack  the  gospel  in  its  essential  and  fundamental 
character.  What  does  this  objection  amount  to?  When, 
in  evangelical  teaching,  were  the  terms  work  and  merit 
synonymous?  And  when  was  recommending  a  man 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  311 

to  do  works  recommending  him  to  procure  merit  ?  Can- 
not we,  then,  insist  on  any  duty,  or  call  for  any  sacrifice, 
without  replacing  on  its  pedestal  the  idol  of  self-righteous- 
ness, which  the  gospel  abhors,  and  which  Jesus  came  to 
cast  down  ?  The  consequence  is  horrible,  but  inevitable. 
If,  in  giving  to  faith  the  name  of  a  work,  we  have  brought 
an  accusation  against  the  doctrine  of  the  freeness  of  salva- 
tion, all  other  works,  all  Christian  morality,  bring  against 
it  the  same  accusation.  If  to  represent  the  will  as  inter- 
vening, in  faith,  is  to  maintain  that  man  can  of  himself  do 
any  thing,  those  who  have  represented  all  works  of  moral- 
ity as  voluntary  acts  have  affirmed  that  man  can  do  every 
thing.  If,  on  the  contrary,  they  have  spoken  thus  of 
morality  in  general,  without  incurring  a  reproach  so  grave, 
we  shall  incur  it  no  more  than  they.  Besides,  the 
reserve  they  attach  to  every  appeal  which  they  make 
to  the  human  will  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  law,  we  attach 
with  as  much  right  and  propriety  to  the  appeal  we  make 
to  men  to  believe  on  him  whom  God  hath  sent.  For 
if,  after  having  said  to  Christians,  "  work,"  they  add,  "  for 
it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do,"  we,  on 
our  part,  after  saying  to  unbelievers, " believe,"  add,  "none 
can  say  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit." 
It  is  God  who  commands,  and  it  is  God,  also,  that  gives  us 
the  power  to  believe. 

What,  I  pray  you,  is  that  work  which  we  make  the  condi- 
tion of  salvation  ?  Have  you  duly  considered  it  ?  That 
work  is  essentially  the  abandonment  of  all  merit,  the  renunci- 
ation of  all  salvation  coming  from  works.  That  work  is  the 
exclusion  of  works  as  a  title  to  the  Divine  favor.  What! 
have  we  drawn  merit  from  such  a  source  as  this  ?  Have 
we  merely  transplanted  and  not  extirpated  error  ?  Have 
we  impoverished  "ourselves,  only  to  grow  richer  in  reality  ? 
Do  not  permit  yourselves  to  be  deceived  or  terrified  by 
words.  One  fact  remains ;  man  will  never  be  saved  as 


312  THE    WORK   OF   GOD. 

long  as  he  believes  he  has  power  to  do  it  by  his  own  works  ; 
nay,  he  will  never  be  saved  until  he  renounces  the  de- 
sire of  being  saved  by  his  own  works.  Not  that  renun- 
ciation will  save  him ;  for  such  an  act  supposes  that  he 
has  nothing  in  himself,  absolutely  nothing  by  which  he  can 
be  saved ; — but  is  such  a  renunciation  a  condition  of  salva- 
tion, or  is  it  not  ?  Yes,  it  is  a  condition  of  salvation.  Is  such 
renunciation  an  action,  a  work,  or  is  it  not  ?  Yes,  it  is  an 
action,  a  work.  A  work,  then,  is  presented  in  the  gospel  as 
a  condition  of  salvation ;  but  like  all  works,  and  more  clear- 
ly than  all  works,  it  is  a  grace,  a  gift,  and  not  a  merit.  It 
is,  we  repeat  it,  the  work  of  God,  in  every  sense  which  can 
be  given  to  that  expression ;  in  the  sense  that  it  is  accord- 
ing to  the  mind  of  God,  and  in  the  sense  also,  that  it  is  God 
that  works  it  by  us,  and  in  us. 

If  the  reproach  of  injecting  into  the  bosom  of  religion 
the  impure  doctrine  of  self-righteousness  and  merit  in 
works,  falls  with  propriety  on  any  one,  it  is  upon  those  who 
refuse  to  faith  the  character  we  ascribe  to  it.  It  is  upon 
those  who  make  faith  a  servile  and  sordid  work.  For 
what  can  be  more  sordid  and  servile  than  to  claim  salva- 
tion, and  the  eternal  society  of  God,  at  the  price  of  a  pas- 
sive acquiescence  in  a  certain  doctrine,  without  putting  our- 
selves in  fellowship  with  it,  and  in  passing,  with  bended 
head,  like  slaves,  beneath  the  yoke  of  mere  knowledge.^ 
This  is  not  less  a  work  than  the  one  we  propose,  but  it  is  a 
work  without  freedom,  without  morality,  without  religion. 
My  brethren,  you  must  consent  to  acknowledge  this ;  on 
whatever  side  you  turn,  it  is  a  work  you  find  there ;  but 
in  the  one  case,  it  is  a  work  of  God,  in  the  other,  a  work 
of  man.  A  faith  which  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other, 
cannot  be  conceived,  cannot  be  found. 

But  we  confound,  it  will  be  further  said,  profound  and 

*  The  author's  allusion  here,  is  to  the  custom  of  incorporating  captives 
into  the  Roman  armies,  by  passing  them  under  the  yoke.  T. 


THE    WORK   OF   GOD.  313 

sacred  distinctions.  We  commingle  elements  which  the 
gospel  has^arefully  separated ;  we  carry  disorder  and  con- 
fusion into  that  beautiful  economy,  which,  placing  faith  on 
one  side,  and  works  on  the  other,  has  traced  limits  which 
it  does  not  become  any  one  to  efface.  If  we  have  effaced 
them,  acknowledge  that  the  words  of  our  text  might  furnish 
our  excuse.  Who  can  be  surprised  that  once  at  least,  some 
one  has  given  to  faith  the  name  of  a  work,  a  name  which 
our  Lord  himself  has  thus  formally  given  it  ?  But  no,  we 
have  effaced  nothing.  The  distinction  exists.  It  has  even 
up  to  a  certain  point,  the  quality  of  an  opposition ;  but  it  does 
not  depend  upon  a  word.  Even  if  faith  should  be  a  work, 
it  is  not  less  a  work  distinct  from  those  which  are  con- 
ceived and  accomplished  without  it.  Let  any  one  call  it 
a  work  as  long  as  he  pleases,  it  will  be  no  less  faith ;  it 
will  be  no  less  the  condition  of  works,  the  beginning  of 
works,  the  most  difficult  of  works.  It  will  no  less  remain 
the  strait  gate  that  mustrbe  entered,  the  condition  that  must 
be  fulfilled,  the  victory  which  must  be  gained,  the  yoke 
which  must  be  borne,  before  we  can  do  the  works  of  God. 
And  if  you  accede  to  all  this,  the  distinction  subsists,  the 
truth  is  saved.  After  which  we  shall  admit  without  diffi- 
culty, that  it  may  be  useful,  and  perhaps  the  matter  has  been 
thus  ordained,  that  it  may  be  necessary  that  this  distinction 
should  have  the  form  with  which  it  is  invested  in  the  gos- 
pel, and  that  the  difference  of  the  words  should  mark  the 
difference  of  the  things.  But  he  who  looks  into  the  matter 
more  narrowly  perceives  that  the  Christian  life  is  one  and 
indivisible  in  its  nature  and  tendency ;  and  he  only  who 
can  separate  a  river  from  its  source,  and  show  us  where 
the  source  ends,  and  the  river  begins,  can  also  separate  faith 
from  the  life  that  flows  from  it,  and  show  us  where  faith 
ends  arid  work  begins.  Let  the  river  expand,  or  dig  itself 
a  deeper  channel,  let  it  flow  with  a  scarcely  perceptible  mo- 
tion, or  leap  in  cataracts,  let  it  reach  the  ocean  by  a  course 


314  THE    WORK   OF   GOD. 

the  most  direct,  or  by  a  thousand  various  windings,  let  it  con- 
fine itself  to  a  single  channel,  or  pour,  through  njany  differ- 
ent channels,  its  abounding  waters  ;  is  it  not  ever,  whether 
near  or  at  a  distance  from  its  source,  the  same  river,  the 
same  water  ?  Spiritual  life  is  also  a  river,  in  which  the 
mass  of  water,  the  direction,  the  channels,  every  thing  in 
fact  but  the  river,  may  vary.  That  water,  springing  up  into 
everlasting  life,  like  a  river,  may  change  its  name  in  its 
course,  as  a  river  often  changes  its  name.  Now  it  is  repent- 
ance, now  conversion,  now  sanctification  ;  all  these  names 
distinguish  the  places  and  times  of  the  same  fact ;  sanctifi- 
cation is  already  in  repentance,  and  sanctification  is  a  con- 
version that  perpetuates  itself;  conversion  is  a  sanctification 
begun,  and  faith,  according  to  the  idea  we  have  given  of  it, 
encloses,  only  to  manifest  at  a  later  time,  but  really  enclos- 
es, all  the  elements  of  the  Christian  life.  Is  not  the  whole 
river  in  its  source  ?  Who  that  has  seen  the  source  has 
not  seen  the  river  ?  In  the  same  -way,  the  whole  life  is  in 
faith,  and  he  who  has  seen  faith  has  seen  the  life.  Faith 
is  not  a  separate  work,  it  is  every  work,  every  work  of  God. 
Might  not  the  man  who  holds  an  acorn  in  his  hand  say,  I 
hold  in  my  hand  an  oak  ?  For  that  acorn  is  all  that  is 
necessary  in  itself  to  become  an  oak. 

Let  us  leave  these  reasonings  and  images,  and  open  the 
New  Testament.  We  must  absolutely  falsify  it,  to  main- 
tain that  faith  is  not  altogether  the  work  of  God,  or  refuse 
to  acknowledge,  that  if  imputed  for  righteousness,  it  is 
because  it  possesses  a  righteous  character.  Do  you  not 
say,  that  faith  without  works  is  dead  ?  Do  you  not  say, 
that  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  ?  Do  you 
not  say,  that  every  one  shall  be  punished  or  rewarded  ac- 
cording to  the  good  or  the  evil  he  has  done  in  the  body  ? 
Ah  then,  what  account  do  you  give  of  the  fatted  calf  killed 
for  the  prodigal  son,  and  the  joy  of  angels,  greater  over  one 
sinner  that  repents  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD.  315 

that  need  no  repentance  ?     It  will  serve  no  good  purpose 
to  reply,  that  they  have  done  works  since  their  conver- 
sion.    Have  the  others  ceased  to  do  them  ?    Have  not  the 
others  done  them  for  a  long  time  ?     Why,  then,  is  he  who 
lahors  in  the  vineyard  from  the  eleventh  hour,  treated  as  he 
who  labored  from  the  first  ?     Why,  for  we  must  say  the 
whole,  why  have  not  the  just,  who  have  spent  a  long  life, 
more  to  hope,  than  those,  who,  having  lived  fewer  years, 
have,  with  the  same  zeal,  done  fewer  works  ?     Why,  if  it 
is  not  that  faith  is  the  work  entire,  the  whole  work,  of 
which  particular    works  are  the   development   or  mani- 
festation ?     Why  if  it  is  not    that  salvation  depends  upon 
what  we  are,  and  not  upon  what  we  do,  and  that  the  times 
and  opportunities  God  gives  us  for  action,  are  destined 
essentially  to  make  us  become  what  we  ought  to  be  ?     O 
how  important  is  this  lesson,  since  it  is  the  last  that  Jesus 
gave  us,  and  since  he  chose  to  give  it,  in  the  solemn 
hour  of  his  passion.     It  was  on  the  cross,  and  when  he  was 
just  about  to  yield  his  pure  spirit  to  God,  that  he  said  to 
the  thief  crucified  at  his  side   (Luke  23 :  43),  "  To-day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."     Yet  he  was* a  robber ! 
And  you  have  said,  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord,  and  every  one  shall  receive  according  to  the  good  or 
evil  he  has  done  in  the  body.     But  you  add,  he  believed, 
for  he  said  (v.  42),  "  Remember  me  when  thou  comest 
into  thy  kingdom," — and  his  faith  was  imputed  to  him  for 
righteousness.     But  it  is  you  also  who  have  said  that  faith 
without  works  is  dead ;  and  what  works  had  that  man  done, 
if  not  the  works  of  the  devil  ?     Said  Jesus  Christ,  on  one 
occasion,  to  the  multitude,  "  I  have  done  many  good  works 
among  you,  for  which  of  these  good  works  do  ye  stone 
me  ?"     And  we  are  tempted  to  say  to  the  Saviour,  That 
man  has  done  many  bad  works  ;  Lord,  for  which  of  these, 
dost  thou  give  him  heaven  ?     Ah,  my  brethren,  it  is  that  an 
instant  may  have  the  value  of  a  whole  life,  and  a  single 


316  THE    WORK   OF   GOD. 

movement  of  the  heart  may  equal  in  value  a  long  career 
of  good  works ;  it  is  that  Jesus  Christ  who  read  the  heart 
of  that  man,  saw  therein  all  the  good  works  he  would  have 
done  had  he  lived,  and  imputed  them  to  him,  as  if  he  had 
done  them ;  it  is  that  if  he  had  not  done  every  thing  he 
would  have  done,  he  is  by  his  faith,  from  that  moment,  all 
that  he  ought  to  be  ;  it  is  that,  if  he  had  not  done  works, 
he  had  done  the  work,  which  is  to  believe  in  Him  whom 
God  hath  sent. 

"  Remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom  !" 
That  request  comprises  two  ideas.  I  have  need  of  a 
Saviour, — O  Jesus,  be  that  Saviour!  To  use  the  second 
of  these  expressions  one  must  positively  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ,  he  must  know  that  he  is  come,  or  that  he  will  come. 
On  this  account  we  say,  happy  they  who  have  seen  and 
have  believed !  But  for  a  man  simply  to  say,  I  have  need  of 
a  Saviour  ;  and  further  to  add,  my  burden  is  greater  than  I 
can  bear;  Lord,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,  and  if  thou  canst 
forgive,  forgive ;  in  a  word,  to  feel  his  transgressions,  to 
deplore  them,  to  cry  to  God  from  the  depths  of  his  sorrow, 
to  refuse  Tor  that  internal  disease  all  the  dangerous  reme- 
dies and  deceitful  palliatives  of  superstition,  to  embrace, 
were  it  offered,  the  pardon  of  God  as  his  only  resource,  does 
he  necessarily  require  a  knowledge  of  the  promise,  or  to 
have  heard  the  name  of  Jesus  pronounced?  We  cannot 
believe  it.  The  precursor  of  the  Messiah,  the  prophet  of 
repentance,  John  the  Baptist,  comparing  his  ministry  with 
that  of  Jesus,  called  himself  a  voice  of  the  earth  ;  as  if  he 
had  been  sent  to  give  a  voice  to  the  sentiments  which  were 
ever  on  the  earth,  and  which  formed  themselves  of  their 
own  accord  in  the  bosom  of  the  natural  man  before  the 
advent,  nay,  before  the  anticipation  of  the  sovereign  Medi- 
ator.7* But  these  sentiments,  which  are  of  the  earth,  are  the 
same  as  those  we  have  described,  although  they  manifest 

*This  idea  is  probably  derived  from  John  3  :  31.— T. 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  317 

themselves  in  very  few  individuals ;  and  the  distinct 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  means  of  awakening 
them  in  the  majority  of  men.  We  ascribe  them  unhesita- 
tingly to  grace,  to  the  influence ,  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  who 
has  always  breathed  wherever  he  would,  and  has  never 
permitted  himself  to  be  bound ;  that  is  to  say,  we  believe 
that  in  all  times  and  in  all  places  there  have  been  involun- 
tary witnesses  to  the  great  truth  which  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion of  all  evangelical  truths,  namely,  the  conviction  of  our 
first  fall,  and  the  inability  to  raise  ourselves  without  the 
interposition  of  God  himself.^  Well,  then,  on  what  eleva- 

*  It  is  by  no  means  difficult  to  prove  that  some  of  the  more  pure  and 
thoughtful  minds  among  the  ancient  heathen  philosophers  had  a  just  sense 
of  their  own  ignorance  and  sinfulness,  and  longed  for  a  purer  and  better 
state  of  things,  nay  more,  gave  some  vague  intimations,  and,  as  it  were, 
natural  predictions  of  a  future  glorious  Deliverer.  Plato,  in  his  Theatetos, 
as  his  readers  are  well  aware,  discourses  largely  of  a  former  "  incorrupt 
and  happy  condition  of  the  human  race,"  a  sort  of  golden  age,  in  which 
"  God  familiarly  conversed  with  men,  taking  care  of  them  as  he  does  a 
flock,"  but  that  growing  "  terrestrial  and  vicious/7  intermingling  "  the 
divine  nature  "  yet  remaining  in  them,  with  much  "  deadly  evil,"  as  he 
frequently  calls  the  depravity  of  man,  "  came  to  shame  and  ruin."  A  pas- 
sage in  one  of  his  Dialogues  represents  Socrates  meeting  one  of  his  disci- 
ples, and  attempting  to  convince  him  that  he  knows  neither  what  to  pray 
for,  nor  how  to  pray.  He  then  proceeds  to  say,  "  It  seems  best  to  me  that 
we  expect  quietly,  nay,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  wait  with 
patience,  till  such  time  as  we  can  learn  certainly  how  we  ought  to  behave 
towards  God  and  man.  Till  that  time  arrives,  it  may  be  safer  to  forbear 
offering  sacrifices,  as  you  know  not  whether  they  are  acceptable  to  God  or 
not."  In  another  passage  in  his  Theatetos,  he  remarks,  that  "  Our  recov- 
ery from  corruption  must  be  by  a  speedy  flight  to  God ;"  and  one  of  his 
followers  commenting  on  this,  says,  that  "  this  flight  is  not  to  depart  from 
the  earth,  but  that  we  become,  even  while  we  are  on  earth,  righteous,  and 
holy,  and  wise."  "  1  agree  with  you,  Socrates,"  is  the  reply  which  Plato, 
in  his  Dialogues,  puts  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  his  disciples,  to  the  argu- 
ment of  Socrates  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  "  that  to  discover  the  cer- 
tain truth  of  these  things  in  this  life  is  impossible,  or  at  least  very  difficult. 
We  ought,  therefore,  by  all  means,  to  do  one  of  two  things ;  either  by 
hearkening  to  instruction,  and  by  our  own  diligent  study,  to  find  out  the 
truth ;  or  if  that  be  impossible,  then  to  fix  on  that  which  appears  to  human 
reason  best  and  most  probable,  and  to  make  that  our  raft  while  we  sail  this 

27 


318  THE    WORK   OF    GOD. 

tion  will  you  place  the  souls  in  whom  that  truth  revealed 
itself  before  the  great  truth  of  the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  made  known  to  them,  the  souls,  which,  as  much  as 
was  possible  for  them,  believed  before  they  had  seen, 
in  comparison  with  those  who,  having  known  Jesus  Christ, 
believe  in  him  with  a  literal  and  passive  faith,  not  with  a 
free  consent,  but  with  a  servile  belief,  and  who,  to  express 
the  whole  in  a  word,  do  not  embrace  him,  and  adorn 
themselves  with  his  merits  and  glory  ?  Which  of  these, 
the  first  or  the  second,  best  fulfil  the  conditions  of  true  faith  ? 
To  whom  preferably  will  their  faith  be  imputed  for  right- 
eousness ?  To  those  whose  faith  is  complete  but  dead,  or 

stormy  sea,  unless  one  could  have  a  still  more  sure  and  safe  guide,  such  as 
a  divine  revelation  would  be;  on  which  we  might  make  the  voyage  of  life, 
as  in  a  ship  that  fears  no  danger."  It  is  well  known  that  Plutarch,  who 
lived  about  the  middle  of  the  first  century,  but  had  no  acquaintance  with 
Christianity,  made  a  wonderful  approximation  to  the  truth,  and  possessed 
certain  traits  of  character  which,  as  we  may  suppose,  would  have  prepared 
him  to  welcome  the  gospel.  "  Would  that  an  apostle  could  have  visited 
him  in  his  youth,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Christian  Review  for  December, 
1844,  "  and  commended  to  him  the  gospel  of  Christ.  What  a  new  and 
heavenly  light  might  have  shone  around  him  in  respect  to  the  great  problem 
which  he  mentions  on  the  twenty-ninth  page  (Delay  of  the  Deity  in  the 
Punishment  of  the  Wicked),  '  It  is  likely  that  the  soul  of  every  sinner 
revolves  these  things  within  herself,  and  reasons,  How,  escaping  from 
the  memory  of  her  iniquities,  and  delivering  herself  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  them,  and  being  made  pure,  she  may,  anew,  live  another  life.'  We 
do  not  wonder  that  a  bishop  of  the  Greek  church  in  the  middle  of  the  elev- 
enth century,  was  prompted  to  pour  forth  the  following  prayer :  'If  indeed, 
O  my  Christ,  thou  mayest  be  willing  to  deliver  from  thy  threatening  any  of 
the  heathen,  deliver  for  me  Plato  and  Plutarch  3  for  in  word  and  in  conduct 
they  both  are  the  nearest  conformed  to  thy  laws.  But  if  they  knew  not 
that  thou  art  God  of  the  universe,  here  is  need  only  of  thy  goodness,  on 
account  of  which  thou  art  willing  to  save  all  gratuitously. ' " 

Nor  is  it  among  the  heathen  only  of  ancient  times  that  we  find  individu- 
als thus  "  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness."  Though  in  general 
debased  and  hardened  beyond  expression,  some  of  them  really  seem  to 
have  been  taught  their  need  of  pardon  and  sanctification  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  The  Karens  appear  to  be  a  people  "  prepared  for  the  Lord,"  and 
some  of  them  have  come  long  journeys  to  meet  the  missionary  of  the  cross, 
in  order  to  hear  respecting  "  the  true  God  and  eternal  life."  T. 


THE   WORK   OF   GOD.  319 

to  those  whose  faith  is  incomplete,  but  living  ?  To  those 
whose  faith  is  a  work,  or  to  those  whose  faith  is  not  a  work? 
To  those  who  have  not  known  the  Saviour,  but  have  desired 
him,  or  to  those  who  knowing  him,  do  not  desire  nor  value 
him  ?  To  those  who  believe  in  a  Saviour,  or  to  those  who 
believe  in  their  need  of  a  Saviour  ?  Your  consciences  will 
pronounce. 

Ah,  if  long  before  the  advent  of  Christ,  there  existed 
some  such  men,  and  in  the  present  day,  beyond  the  limits 
of  Christendom,  they  are  still  found;  if  there  are  some 
whom  the  vague  rumor  of  a  Saviour  has  caused  to  emerge 
from  their  forests  and  jungles,  through  a  thousand  dangers 
to  meet  the  messengers  of  that  unknown  Saviour,  if  Chris- 
tian missionaries  have  found  that  noble  want  of  expiation, 
of  mercy,  and  reconciliation  with  God  and  with  conscience 
already  awakened,  and  ready  to  break  out,  even  among 
savages,  to  whom  we  have  long  hesitated  to  give  the  name 
of  men,  what  shall  we  think  of  that  multitude  of  persons, 
born  in  the  visible  church,  before  whose  eyes,  to  speak 
after  the  manner  of  the  apostles,  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
vividly  portrayed,  and  who,  entire  strangers  to  that  ardor 
with  which  those  less  favored  embrace  him  without  know- 
ing him,  disdain,  reject,  and  insult  him,  exclaiming  like  the 
unhappy  Jews,  Away  with  him !  away  with  him !  crucify 
him!  crucify  him !  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over 
us,  —  we  have  no  king  but  Csesar,  we  have  no  king 
but  that  proud  ME,  that  imperious  Caesar,  that  cruel  despot 
who  drags  us  through  the  dust  of  the  world,  and  the  mire 
of  sin,  to  the  threshold  of  eternity? — Who  speaks  of  exam- 
ining ?  We  will  not  examine,  for  we  will  not  believe ! 
Ah,  happier  in  their  humiliation  and  anguish,  are  those  who 
would  believe,  but  cannot ;  those  who  cherish  an  inextin- 
guishable thirst  for  righteousness ;  those  who  feel  that  in 
the  privation  of  all  things,  they  would  have  every  thing  if 
they  had  God  ;  those  who  daily  strip  off  their  own  merits, 


320  THE    WORK    OF    GOD. 

without,  however,  being  able  to  re-clothe  themselves,  for  he 
with  whose  righteousness  they  might  clothe  themselves, 
has  not  yet  been  revealed  to  them ;  because  some  obstacle 
springing  from  within,  or  from  without,  has  thus  far  hindered 
them  from  believing  on  Jesus  Christ.  One  day  they  will 
believe ;  God  will  not  leave  incomplete  a  work,  the  better 
part  of  which  is  already  accomplished  in  them.  But  that 
painful  trial  may  yet  be  prolonged ;  the  intercessions  of  the 
church  must  labor  with  them,  and  contend  for  them ;  from 
our  temples  and  closets,  those  who  have  been  delivered 
before  them,  must  cry  to  the  great  Deliverer,  "They  be- 
lieve, O  Lord,  they  believe;  help  thou  their  unbelief!" 


NOTE    TO    THE    ABOVE    DISCOURSE. 

We  doubt  not  some  ideas  and  expressions  in  the  above  dis- 
course have  startled  some  readers.  After  all,  they  may  be 
scriptural  and  just.  It  is  quite  clear  that  our  author  fully  be- 
lieves that  no  man  can  be  justified,  except  on  the  ground  of  our 
Saviour's  merits.  But  those  merits  cannot  become  ours,  except 
conditionally.  A  certain  state  or  attitude  of  mind  and  heart,  is 
requisite  for  their  reception  and  enjoyment.  This  is  produced 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  may  exist  among  those  who  have  never 
distinctly  known  Christ.  We  say  simply  that  it  may  exist ;  for 
it  cannot  be  affirmed  dogmatically.  God  alone  can  determine  a 
question  of  this  nature.  But  supposing  it  to  exist,  and  moreover, 
regarding  its  existence  as  highly  probable,  it  would  be  equivalent 
to  the  faith  of  those  who  really  know  the  Saviour  ;  and  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  might  be  said  to  be  reckoned  for  righteousness.  At  all 
events,  it  would  fit  those,  who  had  experienced  it,  to  receive 
Jesus  Christ  the  instant  he  was  made  known  to  them.  Were 
they  introduced  to  heaven,  they  would  immediately  fall  down  at 
his  feet,  and  adore  him  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour.  Let  it  be  par- 
ticularly observed,  also,  that  our  author  does  not  describe  this  as  a 
natural  state  of  mind,  but  as  a  preternatural  one,  that  is  to  say, 
one  produced  by  the  secret  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the 
mind.  So  that  such  a  supposition  does  not  violate  any  principle 


NOTE.  321 

of  evangelical  belief.  A  hypothesis  it  may  be  ;  but  it  is  certainly 
an  innocent  one. 

If  decided  exception  is  taken  to  any  of  our  author's  views,  it 
will  probably  be  to  those  on  imputation, a  subject  poorly  understood , 
even  by  some  well-read  theologians.  It  is  important,  however, 
to  remember,  that  Vinet  does  not  contrast  the  imputation  of  faith 
for  righteousness,  with  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness 
to  the  believer.  In  his  view,  they  are  one  and  the  same  thing. 
Faith  makes  the  righteousness  of  Christ  its  own,  incorporates  it, 
so  to  speak,  with  its  own  nature  ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason,  doubt- 
less, that  it  is  imputed  for  righteousness.  But  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  without  us,  and  irrespective  of  faith,  cannot  justify  the 
ungodly.  We  must  receive  Christ,  and  make  his  righteousness 
one  with  our  spiritual  nature,  before  it  will  avail  for  our  justifica- 
tion. "  Justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."  Thus,  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  in  order  to 
be  upon  all,  must  first  be  unto  all.  It  must  be  received  by  the 
whole  heart,  as  its  portion  and  its  joy.  "  As  many  as  received 
him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to 
them  that  believed  on  his  name."  It  is  clear,  then,  that  to  be  jus- 
tified by  faith,  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be  justified  by  Christ,  and 
that  faith  is  imputed  for  righteousness,  because  it  appropriates  the 
merits  of  Christ  to  itself,  in  other  words,  makes  us  one  with  Christ, 
one  in  sympathy,  feeling  and  aim.  "  There  is  therefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not 
after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  spirit."  But  we  will  permit  the 
author  to  speak  for  himself,  in  the  following  note,  appended  to 
the  second  volume  of  his  discourses. 

"  A  friend  has  reproached  me,  on  account  of  the  function  I  have 
ascribed  to  faith,  a  function,  which,  in  his  estimation,  belongs  only 
to  Jesus  Christ.  '  Faith,'  says  he,  *  whatever  it  may  be,  can 
never,  as  a  work,  be  imputed  for  righteousness,  that  is  to  say, 
become  the  cause,  or  rather  the  source,  of  our  justification  before 
God.' 

My  honorable  friend  well  knows,  that  faith  is  imputed  to  us,  as 
it  was  to  Abraham,  for  righteousness  ;  only  he  does  not  wish  to 
have  it  on  the  ground  of  merit.  Merit  is  entirely  beyond  us.  He 
is  therefore  perfectly  right,  and  if  the  idea  of  work  involves  that  of 
merit,  the  name  of  work  cannot  with  propriety  be  applied  to  faith, 
27* 


322 


THE    WORK    OF    GOD. 


Yet  we  ought  not,  for  fear  of  one  error,  to  plunge  into  another. 
These  words,  being  imputed  for  righteousness,  are  naturally  under- 
stood in  the  sense  of,  holding  the  place  of  righteousness,  and 
righteousness,  in  this  passage,  signifies  the  observance  of  rites, 
which  Abraham  did  not  observe,  and  which  Christians  observe  no 
more  than  he  ;  but  these  rites  are  the  type  of  works.  St.  Paul  then 
teaches,  with  reference  to  men  in  general,  that  their  faith  will  take 
the  place  of  works  which  they  have  not  done,  and  it  is  on  this 
ground  that  he  speaks,  in  many  places,  of  the  righteousness  of 
faith,  or  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith  ;  it  is  always  faith 
taking  the  place  of  works,  faith  reckoned  as  righteousness,  faith 
becoming  the  condition  of  a  new  covenant,  as  obedience  was  that  of 
the  old.*  Now  this  condition  is  a  legal,  or  a  natural  one.  If  it  is 
legal,  we  fall  back  upon  the  notion  of  work,  and  perhaps  of  merit. 
But  if  it  is  natural,  we  ought  to  understand,  that  it  ties  the  knot  of 
the  covenant ;  for  it  is  in  the  nature  of  such  a  faith  to  unite  us  to 
God,  and  such  union  is  the  basis  of  sanctification  and  of  salva- 
tion ;  but  here  work  re-appears,  work  I  say,  and  not  merit.  If  faith 
is  a  condition  in  any  sense,  what  is  it  ?  In  considering  what  is  said 
upon  this  subject,  I  continue  to  believe  that  faith,  that  is  to  say, 
something  which  is  in  us,  and  of  us,  is,  in  the  sense  of  fact,  the 
condition  of  salvation,  which,  in  the  sense  of  right,  is  unconditional. 
The  matter  at  issue  is  that  of  accepting,  on  the  basis  of  grace,  a 
salvation  which  cannot  be  obtained  on  the  ground  of  work.  That 
pure  and  simple  acceptance  is  imputed  to  us  for  righteousness,  or 
if  the  phrase  is  preferred,  takes  the  place  of  righteousness ;  on 
this  we  are  agreed.  If  then,  I  say,  in  addition,  that  faith  is  a  work, 
either  in  that  which  prepares  and  produces  it,  or  in  itself,  or  final- 
ly in  its  development,  I  affirm  a  thing  which  is  true,  and  which 
can  be  proved,  but  which  introduces  no  embarrassment  into  the 
exposition  of  Christian  doctrine.  If  there  is  any  difficulty  in  sep- 
arating the  objective,  or  divine  element,  in  faith,  from  the  subjec- 

*  If  the  gospel  sometimes  speaks  of  justification  by  grace,  faith  is  always 
implied,  and  these  words,  being  justified  by  faith,  are  the  most  common  5 
this  is  the  consecrated  expression.  See  Gal.  5 :  5.  Phil.  3:  9.  Heb.  10: 
39.  Rom.  3 :  24.  Rom.  6:11,  etc.  Thus,  it  is  not  grace  absolutely  and  na- 
kedly which  takes  the  place  of  righteousness,  but  faith,  which  moreover  is 
the  gift  of  grace.  See  Gal.  5 :  5.  Doubtless,  no  one  will  pretend  that  in 
these  passages  faith  means  the  object  of  faith. 


NOTE.  323 

tive,  or  human  element,  and  giving  to  each  their  respective  parts, 
that  difficulty  exists  no  more  in  my  system,  than  in  that  of  my 
opponents.  What,  according  to  my  theory,  is  found  added  to  that 
difficulty  ?  It  is  the  difficulty  which  is  common  to  both,  and  which 
ought  to  have  occupied  their  attention  first  of  all.  I  will  return 
to  it  presently ;  but  let  us  first  see,  whether,  as  it  is  affirmed,  it  is 
one  and  the  same  thing  to  exhibit  faith  as  the  natural  condition  of 
salvation,  and  to  make  it  the  cause  or  source  of  justification  before 
God.  In  my  judgment,  it  is  not  one  and  the  same  thing  ;  the 
cause  or  source  of  salvation  remains  with  God.  A  benefit  is  lost 
to  me,  if  I  do  not  accept  it ;  but  this  is  not  equivalent  to  saying 
that  in  accepting  it,  I  am  my  own  benefactor.  My  benefactor,  in 
the  gospel,  is  He  who  has  decreed  that  my  faith  should  take  the 
place  of  the  works  I  have  not  done.  Did  this  substitution  or  ex- 
change depend  upon  me?  Could  I  claim  it,  or  imagine  it?  Is  it 
not  evident  that  all  the  honor  of  that  commutation  reverts  to  God 
alone?  If  this  conclusion  is  not  evident,  it  is  not  my  theory  that 
obscures  it.  If  the  glory  of  God  is  found  diminished,  it  is  quite 
as  much  by  the  system  of  my  opponents  as  by  mine.  For  in 
either  case,  man  must  do  his  part,  man  must  believe.  In  both  it 
is  necessary  that,  something  having  taken  place  without  us,  some- 
thing should  take  place  within  us.  From  these  two  things,  and 
not  from  one  of  them,  results  salvation.  Let  us  dwell  upon  this  a 
moment. 

The  whole  work  of  salvation,  from  the  beginning  to  the  con- 
summation, belongs  to  God.  Let  us  set  out  from  this.  But  sal- 
vation, that  work  of  God,  has  two  distinct  parts  ;  the  one  objec- 
tive,— that  is,  pardon,  under  the  form  of  redemption  ; — the  paternal 
arms  are  open  to  receive  us ;  we  find  ourselves,  without  any 
co-operation  on  our  part,  absolved  from  our  past  sins  (2  Pet.  1  : 
9);  a  new  career  is  opened  to  us,  in  which  we  advance  continually 
under  the  shadow  of  divine  forgiveness,  ever  active  and  inexhaust- 
ible as  the  merit  of  Jesus  Christ ;  the  other  subjective,  that  is 
faith,  which,  reduced  to  its  most  simple  notion,  is  still  subjective  ; 
it  is  always /that  believe,  though  God  has  enabled  me  to  do 
so  ;  this  faith  which  produces  joy  and  love,  unites  me  indissolubly 
to  God,  and  crowns  the  work  of  my  salvation,  which  could  not  be 
consummated  except  in  so  far  as  I  am  united  to  God  ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  no  more  /  that  live,  but  Christ  that  liveth  in  me.  In 


324  THE    WORK   OF   GOD. 

my  salvation,  then,  there  is  something  from  me, — God  has  taken 
something  of  mine  in  order  to  save  me  ;  he  has  employed  me  to 
accomplish  my  own  salvation.  Such  a  conclusion  cannot  be 
refused  on  any  system,  if  we  will  only  rest  satisfied  with  our 
Saviour's  words,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  might  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life."  It  is  not  I,  then,  who  save  myself,  in  any 
respect,  or  in  any  degree  ;  but  I  cannot  be  saved  without  my  own 
action. 

St.  Paul  was  full  of  such  thoughts  when,  writing  to  some  who 
believed,  he  besought  them  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  (2  Cor.  5  : 
20.)  To  beseech,  has  for  its  correlative  to  yield ;  to  yield  is  an  act 
of  the  will ;  but  this  act  of  the  will  could  only  be  the  immediate 
continuance,  or  prolongation  of  the  act  of  faith,  or  of  the  accept- 
ance of  the  divine  pardon.  In  faith,  then,  as  well  as  in  that  which 
continues  it,  there  is  an  act  of  the  will,  which  is  no  less  an  act  of 
the  will  for  being  a  gift  of  God.  And  when  St.  Paul  said  to  be- 
lievers, "  Labor  for  your  salvation  "  (Phil.  2  :  12),  he  makes  an 
undoubted  appeal  to  their  will.  "  Labor  for  your  salvation !"  or, 
according  to  the  literal  sense,  work  out,  accomplish,  achieve  your 
salvation  !  Who  would  have  dared  to  say  such  a  thing,  if  an 
apostle  had  not  said  it  before  him  ]  But  if  one  is  obliged  to  admit 
that  in  setting  out  from  faith  man  works,  why  does  it  cost  him  an 
effort  to  concede  that  in  faith  itself  there  is  work  ;  and  why  should 
one  of  these  scandalize  him  more  than  the  other  ?  He  must  accept 
both,  but  must  not,  on  that  account,  say  that  faith  is  the  source 
or  cause  of  salvation.  For  this  work  of  man  is  still  a  grace  ;  it  is 
God  that  works  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure. 
(Phil.  2  :  12.)  There  are  other  passages  still  more  specific.  St. 
Paul  (Acts  14:  22)  exhorts  his  disciples  to  persevere  in  the 
faith ;  he  had,  then,  before  their  conversion,  exhorted  them  to 
believe,  and  the  matter  of  an  exhortation  is  a  free  act. 

Besides,  in  the  discourse  under  consideration,  I  have  prescribed 
nothing  ;  I  have  not  even  dogmatized  ;  I  have  only  explained  how 
such  an  act  as  faith  may  be  called  a  work,  and  even  a  moral  work. 
It  can  easily  be  supposed  that,  when  I  see  faith  producing  works, 
I  should  not  curiously  analyze  it  to  discover  there  the  voluntary 
and  active  element  of  which  I  have  spoken  ;  I  should  remain  sat- 
isfied that  he  who  lives  according  to  the  will  of  God,  has  believed, 


NOTE.  325 

and  believed  well.  If  any  one  esteems  my  explanations  and  dis- 
tinctions superfluous,  so  be  it.  I  could  never  violate  principles, 
since  I  could  say,  that  we  are  saved  by  means  of,  or  through 
the  medium  of  faith  (Eph.  2  :  8)  ;  that  without  faith  it  is  impos- 
sible to  please  God  (Heb.  11  :  6)  ;  that  true  faith  rests  on  the 
power  of  God  (1  Cor.  2:5);  and  that  no  one  can  say,  but  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord.  (1  Cor.  12  :  3.)  And  here 
I  revert  to  what  I  have  said  respecting  the  thief  on  the  cross.  My 
exegesis  of  that  narrative  in  sacred  history  has  been  complained 
of.  But  what  have  I  said  of  it?  That  he  was  saved  by  means 
of  faith.  And  now  let  us  reason  the  matter.  Can  any  one, 
without  holiness,  see  the  Lord?  No.  Was  he  then  actually 
holy  ?  No.  But  through  faith  in  the  Saviour,  he  had  the  germ 
of  holiness  ;  the  Divine  eye  saw  the  tree  in  the  germ.  Thus,  what 
I  say,  you  say  also  on  this.  Is  this,  then,  saying  that  faith  was  the 
source  or  cause  of  his  salvation  ?  Certainly  not,  but  the  condi- 
tion, or  what  we  express  by  this  word,  a  secondary  source,  spring- 
ing from  the  first,  a  canal  for  irrigation,  flowing  from  the  river. 
And  if  I  now  add  that  the  cry  of  the  thief  was  the  confession  of 
an  humbled  soul ;  if  I  say  that,  all  thief  as  he  was,  he  received 
the  word  apparently  with  a  good  and  honest  heart  (Luke  8:4), 
or  that  God  opened  his  heart  (Acts  16  :  14)  to  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  do  not  make  him  the  author  of  his 
own  salvation  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  I  can,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
understand  a  little  better  how  Jesus  could  say  to  him,  "  To-day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise." 

I  hope  this  note  may  explain,  and  also,  if  necessary,  rectify  what- 
ever in  the  discourse  under  consideration  may  have  given  some 
offence  or  excited  some  uneasiness.  It  is  all  I  could  say  at  the 
close  of  this  volume.  If  I  had  been  aware  of  it  sooner,  I  would 
certainly  have  reviewed  the  discourse  in  question,  and  it  is  probable 
should  not  have  left  it  absolutely  such  as  it  is  now.  I  invite 
criticism,  and  in  advance,  thank  those  who,  discussing  funda- 
mentally the  opinions  I  have  expressed,  shall  separate  the  tares 
from  the  wheat,  and  reduce  my  idea  to  terms  more  precise  and 
clear.  No  one,  I  venture  to  say,  will  be  more  obliged  than 
myself. 

In  conclusion,  the  following  is  the  definition  of  faith  given  by 
one  of  the  most  judicious  theologians  of  the  English  church.  It 


326  THE    WORK   OF   GOD. 

does  not  differ,  it  appears  to  me,  in  idea,  from  the  one  1  have 
given. 

'  Faith,  in  its  most  general  acceptation,  is  belief  in  the  truth,  or 
the  assent  which  our  heart  gives  to  the  testimony  of  God,  the 
testimony  which  his  word  expresses,  and  of  which  we  make  appli- 
cation to  ourselves.  To  believe  in  Christ  is  to  receive,  from  the 
heart,  the  testimony  which  God  has  given  of  his  Son  ;  it  is  hum- 
bly, sincerely,  and  frequently  to  fly  for  deliverance  to  that  Divine 
Redeemer ;  it  is  cordially  and  frankly  to  accept  his  person  and 
the  salvation  he  has  accomplished  in  his  triple  office  of  prophet, 
priest  and  king.' — Foundation  and  Nature  of  Faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  by  Thomas  Scott. 

Mestrezat  has  said,  "  Justifying  faith  is  nothing  else  than  a 
serious  and  intense  consideration  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  a  man, 
who  will  be  cited  in  his  turn  (M.  Burnier,  Instructions  Pastorales), 
has  recently  defined  faith,  *  the  look  of  the  heart  towards  Christ 
crucified.'  "* 

*  This  definition  of  faith  reminds  us  of  the  definition  of  gratitude  given 
by  one  of  the  dumb  pupils  of  the  Abbe  Sicard.  Being  asked  what  she 
understood  by  this  word,  she  immediately  wrote  down,  "  Gratitude  is  the 
memory  of  the  heart."  If  gratitude  to  God  and  his  Christ  be  the  memory 
of  the  heart,  surely  faith  may  be  termed,  the  look  or  the  vision  of  the 
heart.  T. 


XXL 
CHRISTIAN  JOY. 

"Rejoice  evermore." — 1  THES.  5:  16. 

CAN  joy  be  the  object  of  a  precept,  or  a  formal  injunc- 
tion ?  We  are  disposed  at  first  to  deny  it.  Joy  is  not  an 
action,  it  is  not  even  a  moral  sentiment ;  I  mean  one  of  the 
dispositions  of  the  soul,  for  which  it  is  more  or  less  respon- 
sible. It  is  simply  a  state  most  desirable,  provided  it  is 
not  evolved  at  the  expense  of  conscience  and  duty.  We 
are  just,  sincere,  benevolent,  on  condition  of  willing  to  be 
so  ;  we  are  joyful  only  when  we  have  occasion  for  it.  Be- 
ing in  reality  nothing  but  an  internal  feeling,  the  vivid 
conception  of  our  happy  condition,  it  appears  no  more  nat- 
ural to  exhort  us  to  be  joyful,  than  it  is  to  exhort  us  to  be 
prosperous. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  the  gospel  only,  nor  the  gospel 
first,  that  has  enjoined  us  to  be  joyful.  Philosophers  have 
not  failed  to  do  so ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  this 
they  have  only  been  the  echoes  of  that  popular  wisdom, 
which,  in  all  times,  has  suggested  to  philosophy  its  most 
important  maxims. — "  Keep  joyful !"  such  among  our  an- 
cestors, was  the  expression  most  frequently  associated  with 


328  CHRISTIAN    JOY. 

the  words  of  adieu.  The  sages  of  the  world  have  only 
attached  their  seal,  and  given  a  more  precise  form  to  that 
vague  injunction.  But  we  must  do  them  justice ;  for  in 
their  point  of  view,  and  in  proportion  to  the  light  they 
have,  they  are  right.  Organs  of  human  consciousness,  they 
possess,  we  acknowledge  it,  the  commencement  of  all  truths, 
which  God  alone  could  carry  out  and  complete,  by  direct- 
ing and  prolonging  them  to  himself. 

The  sages  of  this  world  are  right.  Sorrow  is  the  death 
of  the  soul,  joy  is  its  life.  Sorrow  drives  us  back,  and 
shuts  us  up  within  ourselves ;  joy,  so  to  speak,  opens  us, 
dilates  and  expands  us ;  it  is  to  the  soul,  what  a  gentle  heat 
is  to  the  body.  Every  one  has  felt  this.  Sorrow,  that  is 
the  sorrow  of  the  world,  is  the  most  opposed  to  the  employ- 
ment of  our  faculties,  and  consequently  to  action.  We  are 
never  induced  to  act  but  by  means  of  some  attraction  or 
hope.  But  sadness  discolors  every  thing,  strips  objects  of 
their  charms,  and  darkens  the  prospects  of  the  future.  It 
deprives  the  soul  of  all  its  aspirations ;  enchains  all  our  pow- 
ers, and  produces  an  internal  paralysis.  It  thus  renders 
us  equally  useless  to  ourselves  and  others ;  in  which  two 
respects  it  has  incurred  and  deserved  the  anathemas  of 
philosophers. 

Joy,  the  condition  of  development,  of  energy  and  action, 
joy,  the  essential  principle  of  life,  has  appeared  to  them  so 
much  more  worthy  of  being  recommended.  And  indeed  it 
ought  to  be  enjoined,  if  it  is  really  susceptible  of  it.  But 
who  can  seriously,  and  for  itself,  enjoin  joy  ?  Who  can, 
with  one  hand,  point  to  obligation  in  this  case,  without  in- 
dicating, with  the  other,  its  means  and  its  motives  ?  Who 
especially  can  prescribe  to  us  a  durable  and  lasting  joy  ? 
Who  can  oblige  us  to  make  it  the  foundation  and  texture 
of  our  internal  life,  when,  in  fact,  sorrow  is  the  foundation 
and  texture  of  our  external  life,  or  when  in  that  internal 
life  itself,  sorrow,  forestalling  joy,  has  taken  entire  posses- 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  329 

sion  of  our  soul,  in  one  case  by  temperament,  in  another  by 
reflection  ? 

O  then,  do  ye  who  command  me  to  be  joyful,  change  my 
temperament,  which  impels  me  invariably  to  sorrow,  or 
destroy  by  facts,  decisive  facts,  the  result  to  which  other 
facts  have  irresistibly  dragged  my  thoughts.  But  if  ye 
cannot  provide  me  a  new  temperament,  nor  extinguish  the 
reflections  which  have  given  the  prevailing  color  to  my 
whole  life,  what  have  ye  to  offer  me,  except  that,  which  I 
can  easily  find  without  you  ;  which  has  been  commended 
to  me  already,  and  which  every  man  opposes,  with  more  or 
less  success,  to  the  waves  of  sorrow,  which  return  unceas- 
ingly, from  the  midst  of  our  life,  as  from  a  profound  ocean, 
drenching  and  overwhelming  the  soul, — namely,  diversion, 
self-oblivion,  and  delirium  ? 

For  every  soul,  doubtless,  carries  within  itself  a  treasure 
of  sorrow.  It  is  even  a  condition  of  our  nature,  that  in  all 
our  joys,  even  the  most  intense,  I  know  not  what  sorrow 
ever  mingles,  as  in  a  song  of  gladness,  a  hollow  murmur, 
or  a  stifled  groan.  It  might  be  said,  that  the  very  voice  of 
joy  awakens  in  the  depths  of  the  soul  a  slumbering  grief; 
that  the  feeling  of  our  misery  waits  that  precise  mo- 
ment to  seize  and  hold  us,  and  that  the  fires  which  illumine 
our  night  serve  as  a  signal  to  the  phantom  which  haunts 
us.  We  may  go  further,  without  anticipating  the  ideas  to 
which  the  remaining  part  of  this  discourse  is  to  call  our 
attention,  and  say  that  the  purest,  the  deepest,  the  holiest 
joy,  so  long  as  life  and  mortality  retain  us  in  their  bands, 
is  not  exempt  from  some  returns  of  melancholy.  After  all, 
these  returns  are  far  from  disturbing  and  impoverishing  the 
soul.  On  the  contrary,  they  nourish  it ;  they  enhance  its 
joy ;  they  put  new  songs  into  its  mouth.  Nevertheless, 
that  joy  is  the  honey  of  Samson  ;  it  has  been  found  in  the 
lion's  mouth,  the  sweet  has  sprung  from  the  bitter ;  and  if 
the  bitter  is  no  longer  felt,  it  does  not  fail  to  recall  itself  to 
our  memory.  28 


330  CHRISTIAN    JOY. 

Consequently,  there  is  no  joy  without  some  anxiety  and 
alloy.  But  if  you  are  anxious  to  oppose  to  us,  not  a  fact 
which  contradicts  what  we  say,  for  that  you  will  not  find, 
but  one,  which,  amplified,  may  appear  to  give  joy  a  higher 
place  in  the  world,  and  in  life,  than  we  have  accorded  it; 
if,  in  a  word,  you  would  seek  an  example  of  the  fullest  and 
most  exquisite  joy  the  world  can  taste,  we  will  readily  aid 
you  in  your  search,  and  spare  you  much  useless  labor. 
Accompany  us  to  those  men,  in  whom  the  most  excellent 
part  of  humanity  is,  so  to  speak,  abolished;  those  whom  no 
lofty  thought  ever  visits ;  those  to  whom  the  language  of 
the  soul  is  completely  foreign  and  unintelligible ;  those  per- 
petually occupied  with  amusements ;  hearts  inexpressibly 
light,  too  light  to  descend  into  the  depths  of  their  misery, 
too  vain  to  be  unhappy,  and  in  whom  moral  grief  finds  no 
place  to  rest,  or  linger  for  a  moment.  Behold  the  elect  of 
joy  !  These  are  they  whom  sorrow  scarcely  knows,  whom, 
it  visits  only  at  long  intervals,  whom  it  seems  even  to  for- 
get until  the  moment  when  it  falls  suddenly,  with  all  its 
weight,  upon  their  frail  spirits,  alas !  finding  it  easier  to 
crush  them  than  to  move  them  ! 

Sorrow,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  lot  of  profound  souls 
and  strong  intellects.  The  more  we  feel,  the  more  we  suf- 
fer. The  furrows  traced  by  powerful  thought  become 
chasms  under  its  influence.  It  might  indeed  seem  strange 
that  in  proportion  to  the  moral  worth  of  the  soul,  it  should 
have  less  of  happiness,  and  that  joy  should  prefer  to  dwell 
in  the  most  frivolous  minds.  Whatever  there  is  in  us,  of 
reason  and  justice,  protests  against  so  great  a  disorder.  But 
that  disorder  exists  ;  joy  is  not  the  fruit  of  reason.  What, 
then,  is  that  reason,  that  philosophy,  which  counsels  and 
commands  us  to  be  joyful?  It  is  a  philosophy  which  de- 
clines to  know  the  world,  to  fathom  human  life ;  or  if  it 
has  discovered  the  truth,  interdicts  it  as  dangerous  and 
fatal.  It  is  a  philosophy  which  involves,  if  not  the  most 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  331 

formal,  at  least,  the  most  decisive  confession  of  the  misery 
of  our  condition;  for  what  is  our  nature,  if  we  dare  not 
look  it  in  the  face ;  and  what  is  life,  if  we  must  conceal 
from  ourselves  its  true  character  and  real  value  ? 

You  have  not,  then,  0  men,  any  other  possible  choice. 
Think  and  weep,  or  rejoice  on  condition  of  not  thinking  at 
all.  I  mean,  of  not  thinking  upon  what  concerns  you  the 
most  v  nearly.  For  I  am  aware,  that,  in  other  respects, 
thought  applied  to  other  objects  is  a  diversion  to  the  mind, 
and  in  proportion  as  it  is  more  profound  and  grave  in 
appearance,  it  renders  us  more  frivolous  in  reality. 
Among  the  means  of  dissipating  our  minds,  of  separating 
us  from  ourselves,  none  is  more  effectual  than  intense  and 
earnest  study.  This  apparent  seriousness  expels  true  seri- 
ousness more  certainly  and  more  rapidly  than  even  the 
amusements  of  the  world. 

Is  it  necessary,  my  brethren,  to  inform  you  what  stifles 
and  kills  the  germ  of  joy  in  the  heart  of  the  man  who 
thinks  ?  Teach  you  !  I  flatter  myself  that  I  have  only  to 
remind  you  of  it,  or  perhaps  only  to  give  a  voice  to  the 
latent  sentiments  with  which  your  souls  are  filled.  Your 
life  is  passed  amid  temptations  to  joy  incessantly  repressed. 
Joy  has  moments,  sorrow  the  whole  of  life.  That  is  a 
moment  of  joy  when  a  cherished  hope  is  realized;  that  is 
a  life  of  sorrow  when  we  feel  that  the  successive  realiza- 
tion of  all  our  hopes  has  not  filled  the  infinite  abyss  of  the 
soul.  That  is  a  moment  of  joy  when  self-love  is  intoxi- 
cated with  triumph  ;  that  is  a  life  of  sorrow  which  develops 
before  our  eyes,  and  renders  more  and  more  evident  to  our 
minds,  the  utter  vanity  of  the  most  glorious  success.  That 
is  a  moment  of  joy  when  we  rejoin  a  beloved  object  from 
whom  we  have  been  separated ;  but,  without  saying  any 
thing  here  of  the  frightful  moment  of  separation,  that  is  a 
life  of  sorrow  which  is  spent  in  remembering  or  anticipat- 
ing misfortunes.  That  is  a  moment  of  joy  which  gives  us 


332  CHRISTIAN    JOY. 

the  smile  of  a  beautiful  day,  the  sun  so  pleasant  to  behold, 
the  free  development  of  any  of  our  powers,  the  feeling  of 
existence  in  the  plenitude  of  health.  That  is  a  life  of 
sorrow  which  hurries  promiscuously  to  the  abyss  before  us 
our  good  and  our  evil  hours,  our  pains  and  our  pleasures, 
nay  more,  our  soul  itself;  for  the  thoughts  and  affections  of 
which  it  is  composed  precede  us  to  the  tomb,  while  of  all 
that  we  possess,  and  all  we  have  been,  we  can  retain 
nothing,  no,  not  even  our  most  cherished  griefs. 

That,  moreover,  is  a  moment  of  joy  which  raises  us,  by 
some  aspiration  of  love  or  virtue,  above  the  dust  our 
cradle,  and  the  flesh  our  prison,  and  enables  us  to  ap- 
proach the  serene  atmosphere  of  heaven.  But,  alas!  that 
is  a  life  of  sorrow  which,  upon  the  whole,  belongs  to  the 
dust  and  the  flesh,  and  which,  as  its  final  result,  only 
unites  us  more  closely,  and,  so  to  speak,  identifies  us  more 
thoroughly  with  flesh  and  dust.  That  is  a  moment  of 
joy,  a  gleam  of  sunlight,  when  the  soul  comes  into  contact 
with  God,  and  holds  momentary  fellowship  with  the  Father 
of  spirits.  But  that  is  a  life  of  profound  and  bitter  grief, 
when,  like  ours,  it  is  spent  without  God  and  without  hope ; 
or,  to  make  the  statement  more  complete,  a  life  with  God, 
but  with  God  offended;  a  life  with  expectation,  but  an 
expectation  of  wrath. 

Let  there  be  moments  of  joy,  then,  meteors  in  the  night, 
transient  vistas,  opening  into  the  land  of  peace  and  light, 
rays  of  sunshine  through  the  bars  of  our  prison.  But  a 
consistent  and  durable  joy,  a  joy  natural  and  appropriate 
to  our  condition,  forming  a  part  of  ourselves,  and  mingling 
with  the  whole  tissue  of  our  life,  a  joy  over  which  sorrow 
passes,  as  on  a  beautiful  day  some  transparent  and  fleecy 
clouds  pass  over  the  azure  of  the  sky ; — such  a  joy,  such  a 
life,  the  gospel  alone  can  bestow.  And  since  it  alone 
contains  the  conditions  of  its  bestowment,  it  alone  has  a 
right  to  recommend  and  prescribe  it. 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  333 

^  We  will  not  detain  you  by  discussing  the  motives  and 
foundations  of  the  joy  which  the  gospel  has  created  for 
the  Christian,  as  our  present  object  leads  us  in  a  different 
direction.  We  will  not  say  that  this  joy,  so  dearly  pur- 
chased by  our  Saviour,  includes  in  it  all  joys,  and  absorbs 
all  griefs.  We  will  not  say  that,  in  addition  to  all  the 
advantages  which  belong  to  all  other  joys,  and  which  we 
have  noticed  in  the  beginning  of  this  discourse,  it  has  all 
those  qualities  which  are  wanting  to  human  joys,  and  not 
only  so,  but  is  free  from  all  that  tarnishes  them,  being  at 
once  holy,  calm  and  serious,  delightful  both  to  those  that  see 
it  and  those  that  feel  it; — subjects  well  worthy  our  atten- 
tion and  study.  But  other  reflections  invite  us.  We  have 
not,  at  present,  to  show  you,  that  the  assurance  of  our 
reconciliation  to  God,  and  the  consciousness  of  the  re- 
establishment  of  unity  and  harmony  within  us,  penetrate 
our  hearts  with  joy,  and  in  addition  to  the  joy  which  opens 
the  heart  to  love,  a  joy  still  more  holy,  which  love  alone 
can  produce;  but  we  have  to  show  you  that  the  joy  which 
the  gospel  inspires  in  Christians,  it  ought  also  to  enjoin 
upon  them. 

We  see  the  world,  with  reference  to  the  practical  teach- 
ings of  the  gospel,  divided  between  two  opposite  errors. 
The  first  wish  that  the  gospel  had  said  every  thing ;  the 
others  are  astonished  that  it  has  not  said  less.  The  former, 
not  knowing  what  power  of  application  and  impulsion  God 
has  hidden  in  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gospel, 
believe  an  exact  and  minute  enumeration  of  all  the  appli- 
cations of  the  elementary  principles  to  be  necessary.  They 
desire  that  the  whole  Christian  doctrine  should  be  spelt  to 
them  letter  by  letter.  Others,  struck  with  the  clearness 
and  fruitfulness  of  the  elementary  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
think  that  they  have  only  to  be  eagerly  embraced,  and  all 
that  remains  will  follow  of  its  own  accord.  And  they  would 
be  right,  were  it  not  necessary,  even  in  the  Christian,  to 
28* 


334  CHRISTIAN   JOY. 

take  into  account,  to  the  very  last,  the  weakness  and  inconj, 
sistency  of  man.  Love  God,  and  do  what  you  will ! — is  a 
sublime  exclamation  of  gratitude  and  love.  It  is  the  lively 
proclamation  of  the  true  principle  of  human  life ;  but  it  is 
not  the  motto  of  man,  it  is  not  even  that  of  the  Christian. 
It  would  be  safer  to  say  to  him,  Love  God,  and  do  what  he 
wills.  And  this  is  what  God,  who  knows  all  that  is  in  man 
better  than  man  himself,  has  said  to  him.  He  has  told  us 
what  his  will  is ;  he  has  told  it  to  the  Christian,  as  well  as 
to  the  natural  man.  He  is  not  contented  with  putting  us 
into  the  road,  and  saying  to  us,  Walk!  He  who  is  himself 
"  the  way,"  has  advanced,  and  borne  us  with  him.  Direc- 
tions and  aids  have  been  multiplied  for  our  benefit.  But 
while  God  has  attached  every  duty  to  its  vital  source,  in 
order  that  the  duty  itself  might  also  be  vital,  he  has  always 
named  it,  suggested  it,  defended  and  recommended  it,  by 
the  most  pressing  motives.  He  has  acted  thus  with  refer- 
ence to  duties,  the  fulfilment  of  which  is,  properly  speaking, 
an  action ;  but  he  has  also  done  so,  in  the  case  of  others, 
altogether  internal,  and  fulfilled  only  in  the  soul.  Thus  it 
is  not  here  and  there  only  we  find  his  directing  hand,  but 
at  our  very  first  departure,  at  our  very  first  step.  We  see 
it  in  his  paternal  solicitude,  prescribing  what  he  gives  us, 
and  commanding  what  he  inspires. 

Joy  is  not  only  a  privilege  of  the  Christian,  it  is  his 
force,  for  the  same  general  reasons  that  make  all  joy  a 
force.  It  is  in  this  soil  that  God  has  planted  the  new 
creature.  So  true  is  this,  that  it  might,  without  exaggera- 
tion, be  said,  that  to  be  a  Christian  is  to  be  joyful.  But 
the  joy  which  Jesus  Christ  has  kindled  in  the  Christian, 
the  wind  of  grief  is  always  threatening  to  destroy.  The 
element  that  feeds  it  requires  to  be  constantly  renewed. 
It  will  not  be  safe  to  leave  it  to  the  first  supply  of  the  "oil 
of  gladness,"  with  which  the  lamp  was  filled.  What  it 
has  consumed  must  be  replaced  day  by  day,  and  night  by 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  335 

night.  In  other  words,  in  order  to  live,  we  must  contin- 
ually cherish  the  same  sentiments  which  first  inspired  us 
with  life ;  we  must  take,  in  their  profoundest  and  most 
solemn  import,  and  as  a  most  pressing  injunction,  these 
words  of  the  apostle,  Rejoice  evermore! 

I  have  said  that  the  wind  of  sorrow,  and  consequently  of 
death,  continually  threatens  the  flame  of  joy;  I  should 
have  said,  the  wind  of  our  sorrows,  for  the  sorrow  which 
blows  upon  the  joy  of  the  Christian  is  not  of  one  kind  only. 

There  is  a  sorrow  of  nature.  Nature  is  not  destroyed 
in  the  Christian;  it  subsists  in  him  entire;  and  while  the 
elevation  of  his  principles,  and  especially  of  his  new  affec- 
tions, generally  places  him  above  the  reach  of  injury,  he 
has  remaining  in  him  a  sufficient  number  of  sensitive  and 
vulnerable  points.  His  strength  consists  not  in  being 
ignorant  of  trials,  but  in  overcoming  them.  He  suffers  as 
much  as  others,  more,  perhaps,  than  others;  and  probably 
it  would  not  be  difficult  to  prove  that  what  multiplies  his 
joys,  multiplies  also  his  sorrows.  Christianity,  so  far  from 
destroying,  exercises  and  develops  natural  sensibility.  But 
whatever  may  be  its  degree,  a  certain  sensibility  always 
exists  in  man.  The  Christian,  like  every  other  man,  needs 
esteem  and  affection,  and  suffers  when  he  sees  himself 
deprived  of  them.  Like  every  other  man,  he  has  his 
tastes  and  habits,  which  he  cannot  renounce  without  feeling 
a  painful  void,  and  a  profound  ennui.  He  has  natural  and 
sacred  affections,  the  objects  of  which  death  tears  from  him 
before  the  time, — alas!  always  before  the  time.  He  has 
opinions,  convictions  and  hopes,  the  triumph  of  which  is 
dear  to  him,  and  which  he  cannot,  without  bitter  regret, 
see  perilled  or  subdued.  Furthermore,  he  has  a  body,  the 
pains  of  which  easily  become  the  pains  of  the  soul;  health, 
alterations  in  which  easily  change,  in  his  eyes,  the  whole 
aspect  of  life.  One  of  these  causes  is  often  sufficient  to 
plunge  him  in  distress;  what,  then,  must  be  the  effect  of 


336  CHRISTIAN    JOY. 

the  whole  united,  when,  as  experience  has  taught  you, 
deep  calleth  unto  deep  ?  I  can  easily  believe  that  his  faith 
would  even  then  remain  entire.  But  how?  For  what  is 
faith  without  joy?  What  is  a  ship  without  sails?  Let  us 
not  be  afraid  to  utter  the  whole  truth.  From  each  of  these 
separate  trials,  and  from  the  whole  combined,  the  Christian 
must  either  issue  more  joyful  than  ever,  or  his  joy  will 
perish  there.  The  trials  of  the  present  must  impel  his 
reluctant  spirit  towards  the  glory  of  the  future.  By  look- 
ing upon  sufferings  in  the  light  of  blessings,  he  must 
indemnify  himself  for  all  the  sacrifices  he  makes.  The 
gloom  of  his  grief,  like  that  of  night,  must  cause  the  stars  of 
his  sky  to  shine  with  deeper  radiance;  by  divesting  himself 
of  earthly  riches,  he  must  draw  liberally  from  the  treasures 
of  his  heavenly  Father;  his  submission  must  rise  to  com- 
plete acquiescence,  and  his  accents  of  resignation  lose 
themselves  in  a  hymn  of  praise ! 

Such  is  the  law  of  the  gospel  and  the  law  of  our  nature. 
It  is  when  we  are  weak  that  we  are  strong ;  it  is  when  the 
outward  man  decays,  that  the  inward  man  is  renewed, 
strengthened,  glorified.  Where,  then,  should  joy  abound,  if 
not  where  grief  has  overflowed  ?  But  during  the  contest, 
during  that  solemn  crisis,  the  Christian  should  call  joy  to 
the  aid  of  his  sinking  nature.  He  ought,  in  advance,  if  I 
may  so  speak,  to  exercise  himself  with  joy,  make  it 
the  habit  and  temperament  of  his  mind,  nourish  it  with 
every  thing  which  at  first  gave  it  birth,  every  day  have  it 
formed  fresh  and  entire  in  his  heart ;  that  in  the  hour  of 
peril  he  may  not  be  feeble,  nor  recoil  before  advancing  sor- 
row, and  that  such  sorrow  may  not  remain  sole  possessor  of 
his  heart,  in  the  presence  of  I  know  not  what  faith,  a  faith 
as  sorrowful  as  grief  itself,  which  sighs  and  blesses  not, 
generating  neither  action  nor  love. 

"  Rejoice  evermore,"  says  the  apostle  ;  let  your  joy  be 
constant  and  durable ;  let  it  leave  no  opening  through  which 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  337 

sorrow  can  penetrate  ;  for  sorrow  is  the  world  under  a  form 
which  disguises  it  the  most;  it  is  death  with  the  appear- 
ance of  life.  Joy  is  your  first,  your  every  day  duty ;  it 
binds  you  to  all  other  duties ;  it  guards  all  your  treasures. 
Ever  be  prepared  to  oppose  it  to  the  sorrow  of  the  world, 
nay  more,  to  an  excess  of  godly  sorrows.  For  here  the 
danger  is  greater,  because  it  is  least  suspected.  But  why 
suspect,  why  shun  godly  sorrows,  which,  it  is  said,  produce 
repentance  unto  salvation  which  needeth  not  to  be  repented 
of?  Shun  them!  No,  doubtless,  for  that  would  be  to 
shun  the  messengers  of  God.  What  we  ought  to  suspect 
and  shun  is  man,  who  stealthily  introduces  himself  into 
every  good  work  of  God,  in  order  to  corrupt  it.  Let  us, 
then,  seek  to  detect  that  hidden  man  who  would  soon  cor- 
rupt the  most  sacred  sorrows.  Let  us  show  what  advan- 
tage is  given  by  such  griefs  to  that  man  of  sin,  and  thus 
endeavor  to  prove,  that  the  best  griefs  require  to  be  tempered 
and  chastened  by  the  best  of  joys. 

Nothing  is  more  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God  than  the 
sorrow  of  the  Christian  after  he  has  sinned.  In  one  sense, 
it  might  be  said,  that  it  could  never  be  excessive.  Sin, 
which  requires  from  God  an  excess  of  mercy,  requires  from 
man  an  excess  of  sorrow  ;  and  as  the  first  of  these  excesses 
has  produced  no  disorder  in  God,  the  second  gives  no  occa- 
sion for  disorder  in  man.  But  feeble  as  we  are,  we  could 
not  sustain  all  the  grief  which  would  be  proper  in  itself 
considered  ;  we  could  not  go,  without  perishing,  to  the  end 
of  our  sorrow;  the  soul  would  exhaust  itself,  before  it  had 
exhausted  all  its  evil.  It  would  be  necessary,  before  that 
hour  came,  if  indeed  it  should  ever  come,  that  joy,  such  a 
joy  as  that  of  the  gospel,  should  interpose  to  aid  us ;  a 
joy, — O  wonderful  and  adorable  wisdom  of  my  God! — as 
holy  as  our  sorrow,  a  joy  which  sanctifies  us  as  much  as 
our  grief  would  have  done,  and  even  more  so ;  a  joy  capa- 


333  CHRISTIAN   JOY- 

ble  of  producing  in  us,  as  well  as  grief  itself,  that  repent- 
ance unto  salvation  that  needeth  not  to  be  repented  of. 

Alas!  I  well  know  that  sorrow  for  sin  will  never  cost  us 
our  life  ;  it  is  other  griefs,  not  this,  which  kill ;  but  is  it  not 
enough  that  it  casts  us  down,  that  it  disheartens  us,  and  by 
disgusting  us  with  ourselves,  takes  away  all  our  energy? 
The  apostles,  during  those  mournful  hours  when  their 
Master  and  ours  shed,  in  drops  of  sweat,  the  same  blood 
which  was  to  flow  more  freely  upon  Calvary,  "fell  asleep  for 
sorrow ;"  and  Jesus,  still  suffering  that  bitter  agony,  address- 
ed to  them  this  tender  and  sorrowful  reproof,  "  What,  could 
ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour  ?"  It  was  because  they  were 
sorrowful ;  it  was  because  no  joy,  not  even  that  of  love, 
sustained  their  weary  bodies  and  languishing  spirits.  What 
was  their  sorrow  ?  That  of  penitence  ?  Did  they  vainly 
reproach  themselves  for  their  little  love  and  zeal  ?  Did 
they  compare  their  selfishness  and  arid  melancholy  with  the 
love  and  self-sacrifice  of  their  Master  ?  Were  they  sorrow- 
ful on  account  of  his  death,  which  they  could  not  prevent, 
and  their  dead  hopes,  about  to  descend  with  him  to  the 
sepulchre  ?  I  know  not,  nor  is  it  necessary  for  me  to  know. 
I  only  see  that  their  sorrow  caused  them  to  sleep ;  and  I 
know  that  sorrow  causes  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body  to 
slumber.  I  know,  too,  that  sorrow  for  sin  may  produce  the 
same  effects,  and  that  born  of  sin,  it  may,  in  its  turn,  gen- 
erate sin.  This  view  alarms  me.  I  seek  the  remedy ; 
and,  guided  by  the  apostle,  I  do  not  seek  long.  I  do  not 
say,  put  limits  to  your  grief;  for  where  are  such  limits?  I 
do  not  say,  put  just  limits  to  your  grief;  for  in  reality,  what 
is  just  here,  is  to  put  no  limits  at  all.  I  say  with  the  apos- 
tle, "  Overcome  evil  with  good,"  sorrow  with  joy.  Joy  is 
the  true  remedy  for  sorrow.  It  never  had,  never  could  have 
any  other.  We  must  always  give  the  soul  that  weeps 
reason  to  rejoice  ;  all  other  consolation  is  utterly  useless. 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  339 

Let  us  not  leave  the  subject  without  having  unmasked  a 
subtle  device  of  the  human  heart.  It  readily  defends,  or  at 
least  excuses  its  sorrow,  as  a  sign  and  pledge  of  humility. 
But  it  is  not  always  such.  We  must  go  to  the  foundation 
of  our  sorrow,  and  ascertain  its  cause.  We  must  inquire, 
if  it  has  for  its  principle,  regret  for  having  offended  God, 
dishonored  his  image,  grieved  his  Spirit,  or  merely  shame 
at  having  fallen  from  the  height  to  which  it  supposed  itself 
raised,  and  thus  having  lost  its  own  good  opinion.  Our  stand- 
ard and  rule  is,  by  no  means,  some  idea  of  perfection  which 
we  may  form  for  ourselves,  and  which  is  nothing  more  than 
our  pride.  Our  only  standard  and  rule  is  God.  The  object 
of  all  our  duties,  the  judge  of  all  our  actions,  is  God;  and 
hence  to  prostrate  ourselves  before  another,  even  were  it  in 
dust  and  ashes,  is  to  prostrate  ourselves  before  an  idol. 

O  what  a  subtle  sophist  is  pride !  It  is  willing  to  see  us 
great  on  any  condition,  and  if  possible,  even  at  the  expense 
of  God.  And  since  we  know  full  well  that  we  cannot  be 
great  by  sin,  we  seek  to  attain  this  end  by  sorrow  for  sin. 
A  greatness  truly  our  own,  is  on  earth  sufficiently  difficult  to 
find;  neither  fortune,  honors,  nor  talents  can  supply  a 
drapery  ample  enough  to  cover  all  our  degradation.  Rig- 
idly scrutinized,  nothing  but  our  sorrows,  nothing  but  our 
misery,  can  be  claimed  as  truly  our  own.  Well,  then,  we 
magnify  ourselves  on  account  of  our  very  wretchedness  and 
sorrow ;  we  try  to  convince  ourselves  that  on  this  side  at 
least  we  possess  some  merit.  If  in  this  instance  there  is 
not  all  the  effect  of  an  express  deliberation,  since  a  sorrow 
commanded  ceases  to  be  a  sorrow,  it  is  yet  the  means  of 
cherishing  our  sorrow,  and  supplies  a  motive  for  not  con- 
tending against  it.  If  grief  sometimes  sleeps,  it  is  also 
sometimes  intoxicated ;  it  inspires  us  with  a  secret  feeling 
of  our  importance,  absorbs  us  in  the  contemplation  of  our- 
selves, and  refuses  that  joy  whose  consolations  humble  us. 
For  it  is  here,  O  Christian  joy,  we  discover  thine  adorable 


340  CHRISTIAN   JOY. 

character,  and  the  seal  of  thy  divinity !  Thou  cpnsolest, 
but  in  humbling-  us.  Under  thine  influence  we  are  enabled 
to  share  our  regards  between  ourselves  and  thine  adorable 
source ;  we  are  satisfied  with  another  greatness  than  our 
own ;  and  the  more  we  discover  the  immense  benefit  con- 
ferred on  us,  in  our  salvation,  the  more  do  we  appear  little 
in  our  own  eyes.  The  goodness  which  interposes  in  our 
behalf,  overwhelms  us ;  we  rejoice  to  see  so  great  a  God  so 
good ;  in  the  presence  of  such  a  God,  we  are  happy  to  feel 
ourselves  little.  We  are  not  ashamed  to  be  humbled  before 
love ;  we  rejoice  to  feel  our  selfishness  reduced  ;  we  rejoice 
to  be  less  occupied  with  ourselves,  and  more  with  God ;  in 
a  word,  we  bless  him  for  having  enabled  us  to  forget  our- 
selves in  order  to  think  of  him  ! 

There  are  other  sorrows,  the  occasion  of  which  is  purer, 
though  their  source  may  not  be  more  so ;  sorrows  truly 
Christian,  but  the  excess  of  which  we  ought  to  distrust. 
The  excess,  did  I  say  ?  No,  that  is  not  saying  enough  ;  it 
is  these  sorrows  themselves,  or  at  least,  what  may  often 
mingle  with  them,  we  ought  to  distrust.  I  will  explain 
myself.  You  are  Christians  ;  you  must,  then,  by  virtue  of 
the  grace  that  made  you  such,  bear  some  affinity  to  Him 
who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  look  upon  iniquity.  This 
iniquity,  spread  in  the  world,  overflows  before  your  eyes,  and 
casts  its  impure  scum  even  to  your  feet.  You  see  this  and 
you  weep.  The  enmity  of  the  world  against  the  gospel  is 
exasperated.  It  becomes  furious  ;  it  passes  from  words  to 
actions ;  the  most  dismal  scenes  declare  it  around  you. 
You  see  these  things,  and  you  weep  more  bitterly.  Is  that 
all?  No;  Christians  make  themselves  the  enemies  of 
Christianity;  their  conduct  dishonors  it;  their  dissensions 
render  it  a  theatre  of  scandal,  and  an  object  of  derision ; 
the  folly  of  the  cross,  which  is  all  powerful,  gives  place  to 
their  own  folly,  which  is  weakness  itself.  You  see  these 
things,  and  you  have  not  tears  enough  to  shed;  for  the  evil 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  341 

comes  ffom  the  very  place  where  the  remedy  ought  to  be 
found,  the  sorrow  springs  from  the  sources  of  consolation. 

Alas  for  him  whose  hea^t  is  not  touched  by  these  things ! 
But  beware  of  that  sorrow.  Scarcely  is  the  source  of  it 
revealed  by  your  tears,  than  I  see  it  poisoned  by  the  ene- 
my. Whence  does  your  weeping  proceed  ?  From  grief 
or  anger  ?  Ah,  it  is  necessary  to  know.  For  what  do  you 
weep?  For  injuries  done  to  truth,  or  for  the  defeat  of  a 
party  ?  With  what  eye  do  you  look  upon  those  that  afflict 
you  ?  With  that  of  commiseration,  or  of  hatred  ?  Do  you 
not  perceive,  unhappy  Christians,  that  your  eyes  are  sullied 
by  fixing  them  upon  sullied  images,  that  these  have  trans- 
ferred to  you  a  portion  of  the  evil  under  which  you  groan  ? 
A  different  evil  I  grant,  but  not  less ;  for  tell  me  if  any 
thing  is  more  fatal  than  pride ;  if  any  thing  is  worse  than 
hatred. 

But  some  will  say,  if  such  be  the  effects  of  sorrow,  why 
is  it  imposed,  and  even  enjoined  upon  us  ?  Why  ?  To  con- 
duct us  to  joy,  to  which  it  is  the  only  road.  "  Blessed  are 
they  that  mourn,"  says  Jesus  Christ,  "  for  they  shall  be 
comforted."  Whence  we  see,  that  we  do  not  reach  happi- 
ness but  through  tears ;  and  that  true  felicity  does  not 
consist  in  the  absence  of  tears,  but  in  the  presence  of  con- 
solation ;  while  real  misery  is  not  so  much  to  weep,  as  to 
weep  without  being  consoled.  But  how,  after  this,  can  we 
doubt  the  superior  worth  of  consolation,  or  hesitate  to  say, 
that  it  is  a  joy,  nay  the  most  perfect  of  joys  ?  Why,  after 
this,  doubt  that  it  is  the  true  name  of  our  highest  good,  and 
includes  every  thing  worthy  of  the  name  of  good  ?  Why 
doubt  that  it  ought  to  be  the  characteristic  and  aim  of  our 
whole  existence,  and  that  if  Christianity  accords  moments 
to  sorrow,  it  devotes  our  whole  life  to  joy  ?  All  this  is 
deduced  from  the  declaration  of  our  Saviour;  but  how 
much  is  its  evidence  enhanced,  when  we  consider  the  nature 
itself  of  that  joy  which  our  Saviour  has  brought  us!  That 
29 


342  CHRISTIAN   JOY. 

joy  is  the  joy  of  pardon.  It  is  the  joy  of  seeing  and  feel- 
ing ourselves  united  for  eternity  to  the  supreme  Source  of 
our  being  and  happiness.  It  is  that  of  feeling  ourselves 
emancipated  at  once  from  the  bonds  of  mortality,  and  the 
chains  of  sin,  partaking  in  the  holiness  of  heaven,  loving 
God,  and  in  him  loving  the  whole  universe.  It  is  that  of 
calling  by  the  endearing  name  of  Father,  and  approaching 
as  an  intimate  friend,  Him  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens 
cannot  contain,  and  who,  in  his  word  and  in  his  providence, 
has  himself  declared,  that  he  is  a  consuming  fire,  and  that 
no  man  can  stand  before  him.  It  is  that  of  knowing  that 
nothing  can  ever  pluck  us  out  of  his  hand  ;  and  that,  what- 
ever may  happen,  let  the  earth  dissolve,  the  heavens  pass 
away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  whole  creation  send  a  cry 
of  horror  and  death  through  infinite  space,  his  goodness 
towards  us  remains  eternally  the  same ! 

It  remains  eternally.  Why  then  should  not  our  joy  re- 
main ;  why  should  we  not  rejoice  evermore  ;  and  why,  for 
a  goodness  which  never  tires,  never  diminishes,  have  we 
known  only  moments  of  gratitude,  separated  by  long  inter- 
vals of  ingratitude  ?  Do  not  be  surprised,  that  I  here  change 
the  terms,  without  previous  intimation;  the  terms  alone 
are  changed.  But  can  gratitude  in  reality  be  conceived  of 
without  joy;  and  is  sorrow,  at  bottom,  any  thing  but  ingrat- 
itude ?  God  forbid,  that  making  a  grace  of  the  gospel  a 
result  of  temperament,  I  should  impose  upon  Christian  joy 
a  particular  physiognomy,  and  represent  it  as  known  only 
by  specific  features,  made  to  radiate  around  it  as  a  sun. 
Let  us  permit  circumstances  to  mitigate  the  intensity  of 
that  joy,  but  not  to  extinguish  it.  Faith  may  truly  exist 
without  gladness  and  transport;  but  faith  without  joy  is  no 
longer  faith.  Divested  of  that  characteristic,  what  remains 
to  it  ?  Its  substance  is  gone.  Imagine,  if  you  can,  a  be- 
liever, with  deadened  heart,  desponding  soul,  and  inani- 
mate life,  dragging  himself,  by  means  of  faith,  to  the  throne 


CHRISTIAN   JOY.  343 

of  the  Lamb,  and  while  falling  at  his  feet,  uttering  these 
languishing  words,  "  Lamb  of  God,  my  sacrifice,  and  my 
God  !  thy  love  has  vanquished  the  enemies  of  my  soul ; 
thy  tears  and  thy  blood  have  been  shed  on  my  behalf,  and 
delivered  me  from  the  power  of  darkness  ;  thou  hast  opened 
for  me  the  way  to  God  ;  thou  hast  brought  me  into  harmo- 
ny with  thy  Father,  with  entire  nature,  and  with  myself; 
thou  hast  secured  for  me  in  heaven  an  eternity  of  happi- 
ness ;  thou  hast  given  me  on  earth,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit,  the 
pledges  of  my  salvation.  Lord,  I  believe  in  thee  ;  I  adore 
thee,  O  my  Master  !  I  love  thee,  O  my  Saviour !  But  I 
cannot  rejoice  in  what  thou  hast  done  for  me,  and  in  what 
thou  art  to  me ;  at  least  my  joy  cannot  counterbalance  my 
sorrows  ;  my  joy  is  lost  in  the  abyss  of  my  grief;  it  does 
not  spring  up  and  overflow ;  it  never  abides  within  me ; 
and  it  seems  that  I  am  embraced  in  thine  arms,  not  to  awak- 
en, upon  thy  heart,  my  deadened  heart,  but  to  rest  there  in 
a  profounder  sleep." 

The  contradiction  here  is  so  striking,  that  such  language 
and  such  conduct  must  appear  impossible.  But  if  impos- 
sible, to  what  should  this  discourse  tend,  what  purpose 
should  it  serve,  and  what  use  should  be  made  of  those  invi- 
tations to  joy  spread  through  the  gospel  ?  Why,  to  convince 
us  that  we  may  truly  believe,  and  with  an  earnest  faith,  with- 
out having  all  the  joy  of  our  faith ;  that  if  we  do  not  watch 
our  treasure,  we  shall  see  it  gradually  stolen  from  us,  by  the 
sorrows  of  the  world,  and  even  by  Christian  griefs ;  that  the 
influence  of  the  natural  man,  of  his  selfishness  and  pride, 
drags  us  incessantly  into  the  gloom  of  sorrow ;  that  in  order 
to  have  our  "  hearts  on  high,"  according  to  the  sacramental 
word  of  the  ancient  church,  we  must  first  have  "  our  eyes 
on  high;"  that  Christian  faith,  which  commences  its  exist- 
ence by  conviction  of  guilt  and  misery,  as  in  a  sorrowful  cra- 
dle, need  not  remain  there  longer  than  is  necessary,  to  take 
its  flight  to  Him  who  is  its  author  and  finisher.  It  is  not 


344  CHRISTIAN   JOY. 

necessary,  even  with  a  view  to  pious  humiliation,  for  a  man 
to  remain  too  constantly  alone,  and  too  much  subjected  to 
himself.  It  is  not  in  contemplating  himself,  but  in  contem- 
plating his  Saviour,  that  he  will  be  transformed  into  his 
image.  Security,  power,  salvation,  are  found  in  looking 
to  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  who  has  risen  with  healing  in 
his  beams.  Eyes  on  high  !  then,  disciples  of  Christ !  In 
advance,  set  over  against,  and  ever  oppose  to  all  the  sor- 
rows of  the  soul,  and  the  pangs  of  conscience,  the  ineffable 
beauty  of  eternal  blessings.  Let  your  eyes  dwell  upon  them 
that  they  may  see  nothing  else ;  that  they  may  behold 
nothing  between  them  and  that  divine  image.  Constantly 
occupy  your  thoughts,  and  fill  your  conversation  with  the 
God  of  the  new  covenant ;  accustom  yourselves  to  consider 
Him,  in  all  those  aspects  which  convey  to  the  soul  joy 
with  humiliation,  humiliation  with  joy.  Let  it  be  a  daily 
exercise  of  your  faith,  assiduously  to  contemplate  his  mer- 
cy, which  sought  you  in  the  depths  of  your  misery,  which 
still  embraces  and  protects  you ;  his  faithfulness,  which 
assures  you  of  the  firmness  of  his  promises,  and  the  perpe- 
tuity of  his  love ;  his  infinite  power,  ever  at  the  service  of 
his  infinite  compassion ;  his  eternity,  which  opens  a  bound- 
less career  to  all  the  designs  of  his  grace,  all  the  engage- 
ments of  his  faithfulness,  all  the  developments  of  his  power. 
Say  to  yourselves  that  this  God,  all  gracious,  all  faithful, 
and  all  powerful,  is  your  Father ;  that  he  loves  you  more 
than  a  father;  and  that  your  earthly  parents  would,  or 
could  abandon  you  a  thousand  times,  before  your  Father 
in  heaven  would  abandon  you ;  in  a  word,  live  in  habitual 
communion  with  the  thought  of  that  God,  at  whose  right 
hand  there  is  fullness  of  joy  for  evermore ;  and  you  will  find 
that  there  is  a  fullness  of  joy  also  in  the  thought ;  that  the 
contemplation  of  Him  is  delightful  as  his  presence ;  that 
to  dwell  upon  his  image  is  to  possess  Him  ;  and  that  even 
in  heaven,  no  one  will  possess  him  more  but  he  who  con- 


CHRISTIAN    JOY.  345 

templates  him  more.  Do  this,  my  brethren ;  take  the  word 
of  the  apostle  literally  ;  make  the  holy  joy  of  the  Christian 
a  positive  and  constant  duty  ;  and  your  faith,  gratitude  and 
obedience  will  be  guarded  by  your  happiness. 

O  how  delightful  it  is  to  possess  a  joy,  of  which  it  is  so 
delightful  even  to  speak  !  But  how  painful  it  is  to  feel  one's 
self  so  far  below  his  own  words,  or  his  own  conceptions ! 
Who  will  put  into  our  hearts  what  we  have  in  our  minds, 
and  on  our  lips?  Who  will  give  us  the  joy,  whose  sweet- 
ness and  beauty  we  extol  ?  Who  will  render  us  as  sensible, 
nay  more  sensible,  to  the  visitations  of  that  joy,  than  we 
are,  alas  !  to  the  visitations  of  sorrow  ?  Who  will  deaden 
in  our  heart,  a  diseased  sensibility,  and  perfect  in  us,  that 
divine  sense,  by  which  we  receive  the  impression  of  divine 
things?  O  God  of  joy  and  blessedness  !  Thou  alone  canst 
do  it ;  thou  alone  canst  subdue  our  fatal  sorrows,  and 
every  thing  which  renders  our  sorrows  fatal.  Come,  then, 
and  divest  us  of  that  sorrow,  which  is  only  an  attachment 
to  the  world.  Cause  our  souls  to  rejoice  in  thee.  Render 
thyself  visible,  in  all  the  radiance  of  thy  goodness,  in  every 
part  of  the  universe,  and  at  every  moment  of  our  life.  Do 
thou,  Goodness  supreme  !  place  thyself  between  our  vision 
and  all  other  objects,  so  that  our  eyes  may  be  forced  to 
meet  thee  every  where ;  that  every  thing  may  speak  to  us 
of  thy  love  and  our  hopes ;  that  every  thing  may  be  trans- 
formed into  promise  and  blessing ;  and  that  our  voice,  min- 
gling in  the  universal  concert,  in  its  turn  may  bless  thee, 
0  God,  our  Saviour,  and  spread  around  us  the  joy  and 
gratitude  thou  hast  planted  in  our  hearts  ' 
29* 


XXII. 

PEACE  IN  HEAVEN  AND  GLORY  IN  THE 
HIGHEST.* 

"  And  when  lie  drew  nigh,  even  to  the  descent  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
the  whole  multitude  of  the  disciples  began  to  rejoice  and  praise  God 
•with  a  loud  voice  for  all  the  mighty  •works  they  had  seen  ;  saying, 
Blessed  "be  the  King  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  !  peace  in 
heaven,  and  glory  in  the  highest." — LUKE  19  :  37,  38. 

SUCH  are  the  acclamations  with  which  the  ravished  mul- 
titude make  the  air  resound,  at  the  entry  of  Jesus  Christ 
into  Jerusalem.  Such  is  the  triumph  they  decree  to  that 
peaceful  king,  who  has  revealed  his  power  only  in  blessings. 
Obscure  and  poor  multitude,  incapable  of  displaying  a 
sumptuous  preparation  in  honor  of  him  they  love,  they 
confine  themselves  to  scattering  branches  under  the  feet  of 
the  humble  beast  on  which  he  rides.  Some  strip  off  their 
garments  and  spread  them  on  the  way  before  the  Son  of 
David,  and  all,  in  a  transport  of  joy  and  adoration,  cry  out, 
as  he  advances,  "  Blessed  be  the  King  who  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord !  peace  in  heaven,  and  glory  in  the 
highest!" 

*  Preached  on  Palm  Sunday. 


PEACE    IN    HEAVEN.  347 

If  Jesus  has  willed  that  the  action  of  that  woman  who 
poured  the  perfume  upon  his  feet  should  be  recounted 
throughout  the  universe,  is  it  surprising  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament should  have  preserved  for  us  the  memory  of  a  more 
splendid  work,  the  homage  rendered  to  Jesus  by  a  multi- 
tude ?  This  fact,  perpetuated  in  the  recollections  of  men, 
has  also  taken  a  place  in  our  Christian  institutions ;  we 
celebrate  it  eight  days  before  the  passover,  on  a  day  that  we 
call  Palm  Sunday;  we  assist,  in  thought,  at  the  triumphal 
entry  of  Christ  into  the  city  of  David  ;  in  imagination,  we 
scatter  palms  in  the  way  of  Christ,  and  say,  with  his  disci- 
ples, Blessed  be  the  King  who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord!  peace  in  heaven,  and  glory  in  the  highest! 

But  before  repeating  these  words,  and  appropriating 
them,  so  to  speak,  to  our  own  use,  is  it  not  necessary  to 
understand  them?  Ought  we  not  to  be  sure,  when  the 
mouth  speaks  them,  the  heart  also  utters  them  ?  These 
certainly  are  not  words  of  a  confused  import,  or  vague 
expressions  which  we  can  pronounce  without  interest  and 
responsibility.  They  are  words  which,  in  the  mind  of  the 
disciples,  had  a  particular  sense,  and  a  precise  design.  It 
is  this  sense  and  this  design,  which  it  is  important,  at  the 
outset,  to  ascertain. 

We  can  suppose  that  the  multitude,  in  the  midst  of  which 
Jesus  Christ  advanced  to  Jerusalem,  was  composed  of  very 
different  persons.  Some  who  had  witnessed  his  miracles, 
or  had  been  cured  by  him  of  some  malady,  pressed  with 
emotion  around  their  benefactor,  whose  nature  and  mission 
they  had  perhaps  not  fathomed.  Others,  impatient  of  the 
yoke  which  galled  the  Jewish  nation,  rejoiced  to  see  the 
appearance  of  that  king,  so  long  promised  by  the  prophets ; 
that  deliverer,  by  whom  the  vanquished  nation  might  return 
to  its  former  independence.  But  others,  rny  brethren, 
others  recognized,  in  his  maturity,  Him  whom  Simeon  had 
recognized  in  his  childhood ;  they  saw  in  Jesus  something 


348  PEACE    IN    HEAVEN, 

else  than  a  terrestrial  benefactor,  something  else  than  a 
monarch  of  this  world.  What,  then,  did  they  see  in  him? 
Their  words  teach  us.  They  say,  Blessed  be  the  King 
who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord !  peace  in  heaven,  and 
glory  in  the  highest ! 

Poor  blind  man,  whose  eyes  Jesus  opened,  on  account 
of  thy  faith  !  poor  leper,  to  whom  Jesus  said,  while  healing 
thee,  "  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee,  go  in  peace;"  if  ye  were 
among  that  multitude,  come,  and  tell  us  the  meaning  of 
these  sublime  words  with  which  ye  salute  the  entry  of  Jesus 
into  the  royal  city.  Blessed,  ye  say,  blessed  be  the  King 
who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord!  But  others,  perhaps, 
can  say  this,  without  attaching  to  it  the  same  idea  with 
you.  They  expect  a  powerful  prince,  who,  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  like  Cyrus  of  former  times,  may  rebuild  the  ram- 
parts of  Zion,  and  re-establish  it  in  its  primitive  glory.  Is 
this  He  whom  you  expect  ?  For  a  sufficient  answer,  you 
show  me  that  gentle  prince,  his  humble  equipage,  his  sim- 
ple garments,  his  poor  and  pacific  retinue.  I  understand, 
then,  that  it  is  another  royalty  of  which  you  speak,  another 
kingdom,  which  is  not  of  this  world,  and  that  the  king, 
who  has  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  is  not  a  competitor 
of  Herod,  nor  a  rival  of  the  Romans. 

Go  on,  then,  subject  of  this  gentle  king,  and  make  me 
understand  your  whole  idea.  It  is,  responds  to  me  this 
friend  of  Jesus,  it  is  altogether  in  what  I  have  said,  and  my 
last  words  explain  the  first,  "  Peace  in  heaven,  and  glory 
in  the  highest !"  Should  I  speak  of  peace,  if  it  were  a  king 
of  this  world,  preparing  himself  to  recover  from  its  usurpers 
the  kingdom  of  his  ancestors?  In  such  a  case,  it  would  be 
war  and  not  peace  I  should  announce.  And  even  were  it 
possible,  in  such  circumstances,  that  a  king  should  come  to 
bring  us  peace,  we  should  speak  of  it  only  as  on  earth ;  but  I 
have  said,  "  peace  in  heaven !"  Do  you  believe,  then,  that 
we  refer  to  an  earthly  king? 


AND   GLORY   IN   THE    HIGHEST.  349 

Ah !  the  peace  which  my  heart  celebrates,  is  a  peace 
concluded  and  sealed  in  heaven ;  a  peace  between  man  and 
God.  You,  and  I,  and  all  men  have  transgressed  his  holy 
law,  and  effaced  his  image  within  us.  We  have  banished 
ourselves  from  his  heart ;  we  have  renounced  our  title  as 
his  children ;  he  has  ceased  to  be  our  father.  An  impious 
war  has  been  declared  on  earth,  against  the  Sovereign  of 
heaven ;  a  revolt  of  the  heart,  and  of  the  intellect,  of  the 
senses,  and  of  all  the  faculties,  a  general  insurrection  of  the 
human  race  against  its  Creator,  has  been  organized  in  the 
world.  The  degraded  senses  have  said,  Let  us  break  his 
bands,  and  cast  away  his  cords ;  infatuated  and  fickle  rea- 
son, in  its  turn,  has  said, — "  Where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming;"  selfishness  and  pride,  leagued  together,  have 
exclaimed, — "  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us." 
From  the  recesses  of  my  hardened  heart,  a  thousand  voices 
cried  out  the  same  thing ;  yet  one  voice,  solemn  and  earnest, 
continued  to  upbraid  me  for  my  wanderings,  reminded  me 
of  the  rights  of  God,  of  his  justice,  and  of  my  future  destiny, 
and  caused  me  clearly  to  understand  that  there  is  no  peace 
for  the  wicked.  Such  was  my  condition,  full  of  uncertainty, 
of  trouble,  and  often  of  anguish.  But  behold  the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  Behold 
the  pledge,  the  means,  the  author  of  reconciliation.  Behold 
the  Mediator  who  is  willing  to  interpose  between  the 
Father  and  us,  and  who  can  save  to  the  uttermost  all  them, 
that  come  unto  God  by  him.  War  ceases  between  my 
Creator  and  me ;  peace  is  signed  in  the  palace  of  "  the 
highest ;"  and  my  transported  heart  cries  out,  Peace  in 
the  heavens ! 

But  may  not  the  peace  in  which  my  soul  rejoices,  be  a 
concession  unworthy  of  the  divine  Majesty ;  and  in  the 
impious  struggle  wherein  I  engaged,  has  not  the  holiness 
of  God  been  vanquished  ?  Has  he  pardoned  me,  from  las- 
situde, from  feebleness,  or  indifference  ?  Ah  !  far  from  my 


350  PEACE    IN    HEAVEN, 

spirit  be  such  blasphemies  !  The  King  of  heaven  can  sign 
nothing  but  an  honorable  peace.  When  he  deigns  to  par- 
don, it  cannot  possibly  be  at  the  expense  either  of  his  jus- 
tice or  of  his  holiness.  The  honor  of  his  government  has 
suffered  no  stain.  An  illustrious  atonement,  a  sacrifice  of 
infinite  value,  proclaims  to  the  remotest  limits  of  the  crea- 
tion that  eternal  order  could  not  be  violated  with  impunity. 
The  Son  of  David  enters  Jerusalem  only  to  die  there,  and 
on  the  cross  which  awaits  him,  he  will  appear  at  once  the 
representative  of  the  divine  wrath,  and  of  the  divine  love. 
Nay  more,  from  that  cross  to  which  he  is  fastened,  he  will 
draw  all  men  unto  him.  That  cross  will  preach  to  the 
world ;  that  cross,  the  instrument  of  death,  will  become  an  in- 
strument of  regeneration.  The  holiness  of  God  re-appears 
on  earth  ;  and  at  the  sight  of  it,  the  delighted  angels  in  their 
celestial  dwellings,  repeat  the  same  cry,  we  cause  to  be 
heard  on  earth,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest." 

Thus  speaks  to  me  one  of  those  little  ones  according  to 
the  flesh,  who  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Gennesareth, 
within  the  walls  of  Capernaum,  or  in  the  streets  of  Jericho, 
have  heard  the  Saviour,  and  believed  his  word.  He  thus 
explains  through  me,  those  transports  of  gladness  which 
burst  from,  them,  at  the  sight  of  Jesus  riding  to  the  holy 
city.  If  we  put  ourselves  in  their  place,  and  surely  this 
will  not  be  difficult,  we  shall  comprehend  their  transports. 
We  shall  feel,  also,  that  no  word  was  equal  to  their  ideas, 
no  expression  proportioned  to  their  feelings,  and  that  such 
joy  as  theirs  never  overflowed  the  hearts  of  men.  History 
informs  us,  that  the  city  of  Antioch,  one  of  the  principal 
cities  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  metropolis  of  the  east, 
having  suffered  some  within  its  limits  to  overturn  the  stat- 
ues of  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  that  prince  overwhelmed 
it  with  the  terrible  weight  of  his  vengeance.  A  sentence 
of  proscription  enveloped  the  whole  population.  The  pris- 
ons were  filled  with  captives  destined  for  the  scaffold. 


AND   GLORY   IN   THE    HIGHEST.  351 

Every  day  brought  new  outrages  and  new  terrors ;  and  the 
resentment  of  the  prince  seemed  incapable  of  being  appeased 
but  by  the  destruction  of  that  celebrated  city.  The  bishop 
Flavian,  then  devoting  himself  for  his  flock,  goes  to  Con- 
stantinople to  confront  the  wrath  of  the  prince,  and  make 
an  appeal  to  his  mercy.  Unexpected  happiness !  his 
Christian  eloquence  softens  that  irritated  soul ;  the  word  of 
pardon,  so  earnestly  sought,  issues  from  the  mouth  of  Theo- 
dosius.  A  messenger  is  sent  immediately  to  Antioch.  He 
hastens  his  journey,  he  arrives ;  he  meets  the  assembled 
citizens  at  the  gates ;  the  pardon  sparkles  in  his  eyes  before 
it  is  pronounced  by  his  lips ;  then  it  is  proclaimed ;  and 
that  word,  that  single  word,  restores  to  life  a  thousand  des- 
pairing souls. 

How  affecting  are  such  representations  !  After  fifteen 
centuries  they  excite  our  emotion;  and  causing  a  part  of 
the  joy  of  the  inhabitants  of  Antioch  to  thrill  our  souls, 
perpetuate  among  us  the  impressions  of  that  delightful  day. 
Such  joys,  however,  have  a  name  ;  but  there  is  none  for 
that  joy,  the  solemn  expression  of  which  resounded  before 
the  gates  of  Jerusalem.  That  man,  who  in  humble  apparel 
rides  thither  with  the  multitude,  is  the  bearer  also  of  tidings ; 
but  what  tidings  ! — of  a  pardon, — but  what  a  pardon  !  He 
does  not  say,  like  the  messenger  of  Flavian, — You  shall 
live  a  few  days  more  in  this  land  of  exile  ;  he  says,  You 
shall  live  eternally  !  He  does  not  say,  You  shall  yet  see 
the  sun, — he  says,  You  shall  see  God  !  He  does  not  say, 
You  shall  enjoy  the  good  things  of  this  world,  before  you 
die ;  he  says,  You  shall  enjoy  a  peace  that  passeth  all 
understanding;  you  shall  be  associated,  by  your  sentiments 
and  virtues,  with  divinity  itself;  and  after  a  few  days 
devoted  to  the  exercise  of  your  faith,  quitting  for  ever  the 
plains  of  Babylon,  you  shall  dwell  in  the  land  of  salvation, 
in  the  immortal  Canaan. 


352  PEACE    IN   HEAVEN, 

And  who  is  the  messenger  that  brings  such  promises  as 
these!  He  who  alone  can  fulfil  them, — he  who  will  fulfil 
them, — he  by  whom  all  these  blessings  are  acquired, — he 
who,  at  the  price  of  his  life,  has  asked  from  God  all  the 
nations  as  a  heritage,  and  has  obtained  them, — the  great 
Victim,  the  great  Prophet,  the  great  King! 

Now,  my  brethren,  I  come  to  you.  Why  have  you 
entered  this  temple  ?  You  have  come,  as  did  the  multitude 
of  the  disciples,  to  celebrate  the  entry  of  Jesus  Christ  into 
Jerusalem.  You  have  come  to. join  your  acclamations  to 
theirs,  and,  like  them,  to  spread  palms  on  the  pathway  of 
your  Saviour.  This  day,  which  was  a  festival  to  them,  is 
also  one  to  you,  with  this  single  point  of  difference,  that 
you  have  more  to  celebrate  than  they,  that  is,  eighteen  cen- 
turies of  the  triumphs  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  a  festival ;  yes,  a  festival.  But  every  true  festival 
is  in  the  heart.  Interrogate  yours.  Does  it  contain  any 
thing  of  that  which  animated  with  so  sweet  a  transport  the 
believing  Israelites  ?  Does  it  cry  out  as  theirs,  Blessed  be 
the  King  who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord !  peace  in 
heaven  and  glory  in  the  highest ! 

I  leave  to  each  the  care  of  answering  for  himself.  But 
permit  me  to  address  a  few  other  questions  to  my  audi- 
ence. In  what  do  those  rejoice,  on  such  a  day,  to  whom 
Jesus  is  not  a  king  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  but  a 
being  of  an  uncertain  nature,  of  an  equivocal  dignity,  a 
mere  teacher,  making  known  a  more  perfect  system  of 
morality?  Do  they  rejoice  that  the  demands  of  the  law 
are  augmented,  that  new  chains  are  added  by  Jesus  to  those 
with  which  they  were  bound,  and  that  it  is  still  more  diffi- 
cult to  do  the  will  of  God,  since  he  has  revealed  it  in  its  per- 
fection? Do  they  rejoice  that  the  task  is  doubled,  while  the 
means  remain  the  same  ?  Strange  occasion  for  joy  to  a 
creature  who.  every  day,  is  constrained  to  acknowledge,  in 
things  small  as  well  as  great,  his  incapacity  and  misery  \ 


AND   GLORY   IN   THE   HIGHEST.  353 

In  what  do  those  rejoice,  on  such  a  day,  who,  long  accus- 
tomed to  regard  Christianity  as  a  divine  religion,  remain 
satisfied  with  this  general  notion,  preserving,  without 
breaking  the  seal,  the  letter  which  includes  such  gracious 
news,  and  never  availing  themselves,  either  for  instruction 
or  consolation,  of  those  important  communications  which  it 
contains.  Custom  and  propriety  bring  them  to  the  house 
of  God,  to-day  and  always;  but  in  what  do  they  rejoice? 
That  they  belong  to  the  external  body  of  the  church  of 
Christ?  This  is  doubtless  a  great  advantage  when  prop- 
erly used.  But  what  more  has  he  who  stops  here,  than 
the  man  who  rejects  the  gospel  ?  Is  it  the  walls,  said  one 
of  the  fathers,  is  it  the  walls  that  make  the  church  ?  Does 
it  constitute  one  a  Christian  to  live  in  the  bosom  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  to  be  born  in  a  certain  latitude  ?  One  is  not  a 
Christian  in  virtue  of  external  baptism,  but  in  virtue  of  the 
baptism  of  regeneration.  He  is  not  a  Christian  because  he 
is  inscribed  and  enrolled  in  our  common  Christianity ;  for 
Jesus  has  not  come  into  the  world  to  found  parishes,  but  a 
church. 

In  what,  on  such  a  day,  do  those  rejoice,  who,  accepting 
the  message  of  grace,  believe  themselves  included  in  the 
divine  amnesty,  but  who,  after  having  cried  with  the  disci- 
ples, Peace  in  heaven,  do  not  add  with  them,  glory  in  the 
highest !  In  other  words,  in  what  do  they  rejoice  who 
adhere  to  the  promises  and  not  to  the  precepts,  who  accept 
the  grace  and  not  the  law,  who  wish  by  all  means,  to  be 
saved,  but  care  not  to  be  regenerated?  I  will  tell  you  what 
they  rejoice  in, — they  rejoice  to  see  the  government  of  God 
degraded  for  their  sakes ;  for  if  grace  might  abolish  the 
law,  where  would  be  glory  to  God  ?  Will  you  tell  me  that 
at  least  they  will  love  God,  through  gratitude,  and  that  God 
will  be  glorified  by  their  love  ?  No  such  thing,  my  breth- 
ren ;  for  we  do  not  truly  love  what  we  do  not  esteem ;  we 
cannot  really  love  a  God  whom  we  do  not  revere.  God 
30 


354  PEACE   IN   HEAVEN, 

could  not  be  the  object  of  our  regard,  from  the  moment  he 
had  sacrificed  to  the  design  of  saving  us  the  least  iota  of 
that  holy  law  which  Christ  himself  has  come  not  to  abolish 
but  to  fulfil,  and  which  is  to  remain  intact  and  inviolate  to 
the  end  of  time.  If  they  rejoice,  then,  their  joy  is  false ; 
and  we  might  address  to  them  the  words  of  an  apostle, 
"  Your  laughter  shall  be  turned  into  mourning,  and  your 
joy  into  sorrow." 

Yes,  my  brethren,  the  sentiments  of  a  Christian  are  not 
entire  except  in  the  whole  of  these  words,  "  Blessed  be  the 
King  who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord !  peace  in  heaven, 
and  glory  in  the  highest !"  Without  these  sentiments,  this 
festival  and  all  our  festivals  are  but  vain  ceremonies.  Ah ! 
if  our  heart  is  a  stranger  to  such  sentiments,  let  us  desert 
these  sacred  festivals, — let  us  approach  these  temples  no 
more, — let  us  suppress  these  forms,  void  of  meaning,  so 
that  our  life  may  be  profane,  but  consistent.  Or  rather  let 
us  aspire  to  be  clothed  with  those  dispositions  with  which 
worship  is  true  worship,  and  festivals  true  festivals.  Let 
us  ask  God  to  penetrate  us  with  those  sentiments  which 
alone  give  repose  to  the  soul  and  value  to  life.  Let  us 
receive  Christ  as  the  disciples  received  him,  as  the  true 
God  and  eternal  life.  Sages  of  the  earth,  he  is  the  key  of 
your  problems,  the  completion  of  that  philosophy  which 
you  resume  without  ceasing,  but  never  finish;  troubled 
spirits,  your  peace ;  lovers  of  wealth,  your  true  treasure ; 
men,  the  word  which  solves  the  enigma  of  life,  and 
conquers  the  power  of  death.  He  alone  rebinds  us  to  the 
Author  of  our  being  and  to  universal  order.  Without  him, 
wandering  through  life,  between  an  unknown  past,  and  a 
gloomy  future,  by  turns  the  sport  of  our  passions  and  our 
reason,  a  prey  to  infinite  desires  which  nothing  can  satisfy, 
reduced  laboriously  to  construct  poor  imitations  of  happi- 
ness, tired  of  living  and  afraid  to  die  ;  above  all,  afraid  to 
be  judged,  we  must  approach,  without  guide  or  support, 


AND   GLORY  IN   THE   HIGHEST.  355 

that  frightful  limit  where  the  Dearth  gives  way  under  our 
feet.  Let  us  go,  then,  to  the  Finisher  of  our  salvation;  let 
us  rejoice  in  his  advent;  let  us  scatter  at  his  feet  tears  and 
and  palms ;  these  tears  shall  be  wiped  away  by  a  divine 
hand ;  these  palms  shall  become  our  crown  in  the  city  of 
peace,  when,  quenching  our  thirst  at  the  fountain  of  all 
perfection  and  felicity,  we  shall  repeat  the  acclamations  of 
the  ancient  believers,  "  Blessed  be  the  King  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord!  Peace  in  heaven,  and  glory  in  the 
highest!" 


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